Slip, Sliding Away
by robertp6165
Summary: What will happen when Quinn Mallory, Maximilian Arturo, Rembrandt Brown, and Wade Welles slide into the Gate Room at Stargate Command in July 1998...and find themselves at the center of a secret interstellar war between Earth and the Goa'uld Empire?
1. Chapter 1

**SLIP, SLIDING AWAY**

A Sliders/Stargate: SG-1 Crossover Tale

By Robert Perkins

CHAPTER ONE

STARGATE COMMAND, JULY 17, 1998, 0900 HOURS

Colonel Jack O'Neill stood in the Gateroom of Stargate Command, along with the rest of his exploration team, SG-1...Dr. Daniel Jackson, Captain Samantha Carter, and the Jaffa Teal'c, former First Prime of the Goa'uld System Lord, Apophis…as they waited for General George Hammond to order the Stargate opened. O'Neill, a tall, middle-aged man with graying brown hair and deep brown eyes, clutched his Heckler and Koch MP5A3 submachine gun close to his body. Their destination, this time, was Planet P7J-989. He had no idea what they'd find there. _But then, _he thought to himself wryly, _that's the adventure. _

Of course, General Hammond had sent a Mobile Analytic Laboratory Probe, or, as it was usually known, a "MALP,"[1] through the gate previously, which had verified that there was nothing obviously dangerous that would kill them as soon as they stepped through the gate. But he knew, from hard experience, that the MALP told them next to nothing about what they would actually find once they got there. For all he knew, the whole planet could be crawling with "Snakes"…the derogatory term by which he referred to the Goa'uld, a race of parasitic beings who controlled a vast interstellar empire which spanned most of the Milky Way Galaxy and were deadly enemies of the humans of Earth, whom the Goa'uld called the Tau'ri.

O'Neill, a tough-as-nails military man with an engaging, self-effacing sense of humor that endeared him to those who worked with him, knew that, like as not, the planet was occupied by one or another of the Goa'uld system lords. O'Neill found the idea of finding himself on another planet full of the "Snakes" and their Jaffa warrior slaves about as exciting as finding a large boil on his nether regions. But the exploration of other planets was his job, and he did it because he was absolutely convinced that it was vital to the security of Earth. _Besides, _he thought to himself, _maybe we'll find a cool raygun this time_. Then his mood brightened a bit, and he smiled slightly in a Mona-Lisaesque way. _If we do, we'll have a big party, _he mused_. Maybe there'll be cake!_

As O'Neill fantasized about rayguns and cake, Dr. Daniel Jackson was having very different thoughts. Jackson, a bit shorter than O'Neill, had light blue eyes and sported an unruly shock of longish brown hair, making him look like something of a hippie. He was a former archaeologist, and he approached visits to other worlds with a sense of almost childlike wonder and the inquisitiveness of a scientist. Rather than dwelling on the threats they might face once there, his mind was focused on the mysteries they were about to unveil.

In that, he had much in common with Captain Carter, who, though a soldier like O'Neill (or rather Airman…they were both members of the United States Air Force prior to joining Stargate Command), was also possessed of a brilliant scientific mind. Carter, a pretty young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, glanced over at Colonel O'Neill. She was gradually developing an attraction for Colonel O'Neill which she was not sure he shared. And even if he did, both of them knew nothing could ever come of that, at least while both of them were still in the Air Force. She deeply respected O'Neill for his bravery and leadership abilities, and the last thing she wanted to do was to let personal romantic feelings get in the way of their professional relationship. But still, she couldn't help but steal a glance, now and then, and wonder if he felt the same way about her.

Meanwhile, the stolid Jaffa named Teal'c was first and foremost a soldier. He had served as First Prime of Apophis, leading the forces of that System Lord to many victories over his foes. Now, he fought for a different cause…freedom for his people from Goa'uld slavery. To achieve that goal, he had abandoned his oath to Apophis and joined with the Tau'ri, a transgression that had led to his being branded a Shol'va…a traitor and a heretic…by most of his own people. He considered O'Neill a true and loyal friend, and a leader for whom he would gladly give his life. To him, these missions held out the hope of finding the ultimate weapon which would allow him to defeat the Goa'uld and free his people, and he focused all his attention on the presently upcoming mission. In that, he and Colonel O'Neill were of like mind.

As the four members of SG-1 waited, lost in their own reveries, they heard Sergeant Harriman, the technician who operated the computers which activated the Stargate, begin the countdown. The giant wheel of the Stargate began to spin as the gate symbols were entered into the dialing program. Then, as the last symbol was entered, the gate suddenly stopped spinning and emitted a shower of sparks which sent everyone in the Gateroom scurrying for cover. And then, it happened.

A large blue, swirling vortex, whose appearance was reminiscent of the appearance of the wormhole which a Stargate produced…when seen from the inside…suddenly opened, not within the circle of the Stargate, but in mid-air, about ten feet above and as many forward of the gate. To the amazement of Colonel O'Neill, the other members of SG-1, and everyone else in the Gateroom or the Operations Room behind it, four people suddenly dropped out of the mouth of this vortex and fell, abruptly and obviously painfully, onto the floor of the Gateroom. The four intruders landed in a pile on the floor, cursing and complaining about the severity of the landing.

"Man, can't you do something about that? I feel like I just did a swan dive into an empty pool," one of them, a middle-aged black man dressed in a tan leisure suit which had obviously seen better days, groused as he sat up, rubbing a goose egg on the back of his head.

"Sorry," said a tall, thin but strongly built young man, obviously in his early twenties, with a mane of wavy brown hair and green eyes.

"Get off me, Arturo!," wailed an attractive young woman with red hair and green eyes who'd had the unfortunate luck to end up at the bottom of the heap. "Your ass is in my face!"

"I'm sorry, my dear. Please forgive me," said the one evidently called Arturo, a portly middle-aged man dressed in a brown sport jacket and trousers, with curly brown hair, brown eyes, and whose face was framed by an equally curly beard and a mustache. He quickly rolled to one side, allowing the woman to sit up as well.

General Hammond, a short, stocky, balding man with intense blue eyes, immediately sprang into action. "Seal the Gateroom!," he commanded. Sergeant Harriman immediately obeyed. The hard, metallic clank of the locks as the Gateroom doors were sealed reverberated through the room. Colonel O'Neill and the members of SG-1, meanwhile, quickly recovered from the shock of the sudden entry of these uninvited guests. Within seconds, the four new arrivals found themselves staring into the barrels of several deadly-looking automatic weapons.

"Whoa!," the young man said upon being confronted with this sight. He held up his hands, palm outward. "We're unarmed," he protested. He slowly stood up and backed away a step from the threatening weapons.

"Who are you?," General Hammond's voice thundered through the speaker system. "What are you doing here?"

"My name is Quinn Mallory," the young man said. Pointing to the others, one by one, he said "These are my traveling companions, Professor Maximilian Arturo, Rembrandt Brown, and Wade Welles." He looked around in wonder. "And to be honest, we don't know where we are, so I can't say what we're doing here."

The other intruders slowly stood up, and took their places next to the one called Mallory. Colonel O'Neill stepped forward and patted them down for weapons. Finding an odd-looking device which resembled a television remote control in the pocket of Quinn Mallory's jeans, he held it up. Seeing the blinking numbers of what was obviously a timer, his face got hard.

"What's this, a bomb?," he growled.

Mallory shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "No, it's not a bomb, but as for what it is, well, that's a long story," he said.

"Well," O'Neill said, "You'll have plenty of time to tell it." He handed the device to Captain Carter, who began to examine it with interest. Then he looked up at Hammond, who stood in the window of the Operations Room, peering at the new arrivals.

"They're clean, Sir, except for that…thing-a-ma-bob thingy," O'Neill said. He looked at Carter. "You have any idea what it is?" Carter shook her head.

"No, Sir," she said.

Hammond picked up a phone. "Dr. Fraser," he said, "Come to the Gateroom immediately. Bring a Decon Team with you."

Looking down at the intruders, Hammond said, "We're going to have you decontaminated, just in case you brought in any unwanted microbes from wherever you came from, and then we're going to have Dr. Fraser check you out as well. And then, I want some better answers than the ones you just gave us, Mr. Mallory. Do I make myself clear?"

Colonel O'Neill leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. "I'd do as he says," he said to Quinn in a low voice. "General Hammond has a bad temper."

Quinn quickly nodded. "Yes, Sir. Clear as crystal." The other intruders nodded in agreement.

"Good," Hammond said. He turned and walked away from the window.

"What have we gotten ourselves into now?," Wade Welles whispered to Quinn, tugging on his sleeve.

"I don't know," Quinn said helplessly.

"Evidently," Arturo said, overhearing them and looking around him, "we've inadvertently intruded into a highly sensitive military installation of some kind."

"No shit, Sherlock," Rembrandt said, looking pointedly at the automatic weapons still pointedly aimed at them. "What was your first clue?"

"Well, wherever we are, we're in big trouble," Quinn said.

"No shit, Sherlock," Rembrandt said, shaking his head. "No shit."

[1] A MALP, for those not familiar with _Stargate SG-1_, is a small mobile platform mounting sensors and cameras which tested the conditions and verified there were no hostile aliens in the vicinity of the stargate on whatever planet the team was about to visit.


	2. Chapter 2

-1CHAPTER TWO

STARGATE COMMAND, JULY 17, 1998, 1100 HOURS

Quinn Mallory sat, alone, in a cell in what was evidently the Brig, here at the military installation that he and his companions had slid into, about two hours previously. As he sat on the lumpy cot which, along with a stainless steel toilet, made up the only furnishings in the room, he thought back over the past couple of hours since their arrival here. The memories were not happy ones.

First, a bunch of guys in haz-mat suits came in. Everyone in the Gate Room was forced to strip naked…the Decon Team had been kind enough to bring along a couple of portable screens which gave Wade Welles and the female officer some privacy, but all the men were made to strip off in front of each other…and then forced to wash with a solution which smelled like a combination of hospital cleaner and bug spray. According to the no-nonsense Sergeant who led the Decon Team, whatever the stuff was, it was pretty much guaranteed to kill just about any virus or bacteria it came into contact with. Quinn wrinkled his nose. He could STILL smell the stuff.

Meanwhile, their clothes had been taken for decontamination as well, and they had all been issued with green fatigues which were quite uncomfortable. Then, Dr. Fraser, a diminutive but very attractive woman with short auburn hair and brown eyes…_I wish all doctors were that pretty, _he thought to himself…had come in, doing a cursory inspection of them and taking blood and tissue samples. When she was done, several very unfriendly-looking airmen had come in and, at gunpoint, moved them out of the Gateroom. They were taken to a small room where their fingerprints were taken, and then to a shower room, where they were allowed to take a quick shower to wash off the worst of the odor left by the decontaminant, and then brought here, to the brig, to await further action by their captors.

And now, here he sat. _What are we going to do?, _he thought miserably. _Up to now, we've been lucky,_ he thought. _We've only rarely slid into a new world in plain sight of the inhabitants. _ Somehow, they had usually ended up dropping into a secluded location, and thus could try to pretend that they were, in fact, inhabitants of whatever world they were visiting. That had made their lives much, much easier. On the few worlds where that had not happened, the result had been a nightmare of danger and pursuit as they tried to stay ahead of the locals long enough to slide out again.

Thinking of that made him think of the timer which had been confiscated from him in the Gateroom. It was that device…_my own invention_, he thought proudly to himself…which created the vortex through which he and his companions came to this world. Those vortexes connected not places, but alternate realities. For the past two-plus years, Quinn and his companions had slid…"Sliding" was the name Quinn had given the process of traveling through these vortexes…to world after world, all of them Earth, but all different. Indeed, the timer had always placed them within just a few miles of the point from which they had last traveled. And then, it had granted them a limited time, anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks, to exist in and study the alternate reality in which they found themselves, before the timer ran down and automatically created a new vortex.

That, Quinn knew, would not happen for another ten days (he had been amused when Colonel O'Neill had asked him if the timer was a bomb. Who sets the timer on a bomb to go off in ten days?), at least this time. And Quinn also knew that, if they did not leap through that vortex when it appeared, the timer would not create another for twenty-nine years. _We have to get the timer back, _he thought to himself. _But how? I doubt we're capable of taking on the United States Air Force._

The United States Air Force. But of WHAT United States? Had they landed back home on Earth Prime…something they had hoped for since this whole adventure started…or was this just one of the myriad alternate Earths which were nearly identical, save for minor differences, which they had encountered over and over on their journey?

As all of these thoughts were racing through his mind, he heard a buzzer sound as the lock on the door was disengaged. The door opened, and Colonel O'Neill came in, accompanied by an armed security guard.

"General Hammond would like to speak to you now," O'Neill said. "Come with me."

Not seeing any alternative, Quinn did as he was instructed. They walked down a long corridor, painted in hues of gray and olive green…_I could get really depressed if I had to work in a place like this_, Quinn thought…and finally came to another door. O'Neill pressed a button beside the door, and the door opened.

"After you," the Colonel said.

Quinn stepped through the door, and saw that he had entered a conference room. Seated around a large table were General Hammond…still wearing a grimly determined expression as he watched Quinn enter…as well as Dr. Daniel Jackson, Captain Carter, and his traveling companions, Wade, Remmy (as Rembrandt preferred to be called) and Professor Arturo. Several security guards stood in different places around the room, keeping watch on the strangers.

"Have a seat, Mr. Mallory," General Hammond said. "You, too, Colonel." Quinn and O'Neill took the remaining empty seats around the table.

"Now," said General Hammond, "let's start from the beginning. You told us your names. We've located some interesting information about you, with the help of the FBI and law enforcement authorities in San Francisco."

"And what information is that," Quinn asked, almost afraid of what he might be told.

"It seems that the four of you disappeared without a trace a little over two years ago," Hammond said. "What's more, it appears that you all disappeared on the same day." He handed them copies of the missing persons files retrieved from the San Francisco Police Department. "And now," he continued, "you arrive here, through what looks very much like a wormhole. Would you care to explain that, Mr. Mallory?"

Quinn's mind was racing. He looked at his Missing Person's File, staring at the photograph attached to it. It was his university I.D. photo, taken about a month before he tested the Sliding Machine for the first time. He looked at the others, seeing their stunned expressions as they reviewed their own Missing Person's Files. Were they thinking what he was thinking? Were they home? Could it be true?

General Hammond's voice broke him out of his reverie. "I asked you a question, Mr. Mallory. Please do me the courtesy of an answer."

Quinn looked into Hammond's eyes. "Yes, I think I can," he said.

Professor Arturo grabbed his arm. "Quinn, are you sure about this?," he asked.

Quinn nodded. "Yes. I think it's the only way." Turning to Hammond he said, "General, do you believe in the existence of parallel universes?"

Hammond sat back in his chair, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. "Yes, I do, as a matter of fact," he said. "In fact, we know that they do exist."

Quinn was shocked to hear this stark admission. But rather than admit this, he played his cards close to the vest, asking "You mean you know its been _theorized_, among quantum physicists involved with string theory and similar fields."

Daniel Jackson smiled, shaking his head. "No, Mr. Mallory…can I call you Quinn?…we know that it goes beyond theory and into the realm of fact. I've been to some alternate universes myself…"

"That's enough, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said, shaking his head.

"Yes, Sir," Jackson said, falling silent.

"As Dr. Jackson said," Hammond told Quinn, "we've had some experiences which have confirmed the reality of alternate universes."

"I see," Quinn said, flabbergasted. "I thought we were the only ones."

"So you're saying you came here from an alternate universe?," Hammond pressed.

"Yes. No. Let's just say its more complicated than that," Quinn replied. Seeing the unamused expression on Hammond's bulldog-like face, he continued.

"General, based on what you've shown us here today, I am of the opinion…or at least I'm hoping, beyond hope…that we came from this world, and this universe, and are now home, finally, once again. But in between our disappearance and our arrival here, we have passed through many, many alternate universes, and our immediate arrival here was, indeed, from an alternate universe."

Before Hammond could speak, Captain Carter cut in. "But how," she asked. "How did you do it?"

Quinn smiled. "The timer device you took from me creates an Einstein-Rosen Bridge…are you familiar with that term, Captain?"

Carter's eyes lit up. "Why yes, I am." Turning to General Hammond, she continued. "Sir, Albert Einstein and fellow physicist Nathan Rosen theorized that if an object had strong enough gravity, it could warp space, creating a tear that would link parallel universes. The only known object in the universe with that kind of force is a black hole. Einstein and Rosen held that anyone who could enter the black hole would find a wormhole that would take them to another universe. That's the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. There were two problems with the Bridge. The first is that the same gravitational forces generated by a black hole which warp space would also crush anyone who tried to enter the black hole. The second is that the wormhole itself is inherently unstable and will collapse before an object could pass through its entire length. But in 1963, mathematician Roy Kerr came up with a way that someone could approach the black hole, avoiding the force, to enter the wormhole. And in 1988, Kip Thorne and Mike Morris demonstrated that an Einstein-Rosen wormhole could be held open by infusing it with exotic matter." Her mouth dropped open. Turning back to Quinn, she exclaimed, "You're saying you accomplished this?"

By this time, Colonel O'Neill was rubbing his temples. Looking at General Hammond, he said, "Sir, did you understand any of that?" He glanced over at Rembrandt Brown, who was sitting there with his eyes glazed over, staring into space, and Wade Welles, who, like O'Neill, was rubbing her temples. He grinned. _Good to see I'm not the only one she affects that way, _he mused silently.

By now, Carter and Mallory were having an animated discussion about a subject both of them obviously found fascinating, but which was barely understood by anyone else in the room, except perhaps Professor Arturo, who sat, listening, smiling, and nodding. Finally, O'Neill could stand it no longer.

"Carter!," he exclaimed. "We get it. You and Mallory are both nerds."

Mallory, rather than being offended, laughed heartily. Carter grinned sheepishly, then turned back to Hammond.

"General," she said, "to make a long story short…"

"Thank God," muttered O'Neill. Rembrandt snickered, as did Wade Welles.

Carter gave him a dirty look, then turned back to Hammond. "As I was saying, Quinn has developed a way to artificially create a wormhole connecting two alternate universes."

"You mean, something like the Mirror device I encountered on planet P3R-233?," Daniel Jackson asked Carter.

"That's similar, but not an exact parallel," Carter said. "The Mirror was Ancient technology and doesn't make use of a wormhole. Indeed, we still don't really have a clue how it works. The device Quinn invented actually works more like a Stargate."

General Hammond, watching Quinn as he absorbed the conversation between Carter and Jackson, cleared his throat.

"Captain Carter, Dr. Jackson, I think discussion of such things should be limited, for now," he said. Looking at Quinn, he said, "To return the discussion to it's original track, you're saying that when you and your companions disappeared, you used your device to create a wormhole and travel to another universe."

Mallory nodded. "That's correct, General."

"Why haven't you returned before now?," Hammond asked.

"Well," Quinn said, "I'm still not sure we _have _returned, General. The fact that you did find these Missing Person Reports is encouraging, but it wouldn't be the first time we arrived on a world and thought it was our home, only to find out later that we were mistaken." He sighed. "And if we don't leave here when the timer runs down in ten days from now, we'll be stuck here for twenty-nine years."

"What was the purpose of the timer, anyway?," Captain Carter asked.

"It was supposed to be an insurance policy, intended to make sure we got home," Quinn said sadly. "But I didn't realize that if the device was used to open a wormhole before the timer ran out, it would lose its fix on our home world and begin sending us to different worlds on a completely random basis. We found ourselves in a situation where we had to leave a world we visited immediately or be killed, so I created a wormhole before the time ran down. Since then, we've essentially been lost, bouncing between realities with only the hope that the timer would, one day, send us home."

"Well," General Hammond said, "perhaps what we ought to do first is to confirm that you are in fact from our world." He looked at Captain Carter.

"Captain, why don't you speak more with Mr. Mallory and his companions, and gather a list of facts that we can have checked out to determine if this is, in fact, their real home."

"Yes, Sir," Carter said.

"And what if they are, as they say, home," Colonel O'Neill said. "What do we do with them?"

Hammond scratched his bald head as he thought about it. "Well," he said, "It appears that Mr. Mallory and Professor Arturo may possibly prove useful to our program, and we can discuss such an option with them. The other two, after they've signed the appropriate waivers, can go home, if they wish."

"Of what program do you speak, General Hammond?," Professor Arturo asked.

Hammond smiled. "We'll talk about that later, possibly. In the meantime, Colonel O'Neill, see that these people are given more comfortable accommodations. They may be here for a while."

Quinn cleared his throat. "The timer runs out in ten days, General Hammond. If this is not our home, we _have_ to leave when it runs out."

"We'll see, Mr. Mallory," the General replied, rising from the table. "We'll see."


	3. Chapter 3

-1CHAPTER THREE

STARGATE COMMAND, JULY 18, 1998, 1300 HOURS

In the Briefing Room on Level 27 of the Stargate Command Center beneath Cheyenne Mountain, General George Hammond had called a meeting of his senior officers and scientists to discuss the arrival of the strangers. He had heard the story told by Quinn Mallory of the circumstances of their arrival here, and over the past twenty-four hours, General Hammond had issued orders to various of his subordinates to confirm it. Now he was about to hear their reports.

Seated around the table were Colonel O'Neill, Captain Carter, and Dr. Jackson, as well as Dr. Bill Lee, a short, balding man who was the senior scientist attached to Stargate Command, and Jay Felger, a nervous, fidgety man with brown hair and large eyes who was, after Samantha Carter, the chief physicist attached to the SGC. Hammond looked at O'Neill first.

"Colonel," Hammond said, "I assume you have the report of the team sent to Mr. Mallory's home in San Francisco."

"Yes, General," O'Neill said, nodding. "It turns out that Mrs. Mallory is one of those mothers who never throws any of her children's stuff away. Mr. Mallory's bedroom is exactly like he left it, and so is his laboratory in the basement of their home." He handed Hammond a packet of photos. "As you can see, the equipment found there corresponds exactly to what Mr. Mallory said we should find."

Hammond opened the packet, took out the photos, and reviewed them. It did indeed appear that Mallory had not been lying to them, at least on this score.

O'Neill smiled as he continued. "Oh, and the gate creaks."

"Come again?," Hammond said.

"Mr. Mallory was insistent that we check to see if the gate in the white picket fence leading into his front yard creaks when you open it," O'Neill said. "He says that gate has been creaking since he was a little boy, and he's been able to determine that several of the worlds he's passed through were not his own, because their versions of that gate did _not_ creak."

"Hmmm," General Hammond said. "That's a pretty flimsy piece of evidence. What if Mrs. Mallory had it fixed after he disappeared?"

O'Neill smiled again. "Mr. Mallory is sure that HIS mother would never do that."

Shaking his head and setting the photos aside, General Hammond looked at Captain Carter.

"Captain," he asked, "have you and the other scientists come up with a theory as to why Mr. Mallory and his companions were transported here, rather than to somewhere in San Francisco, as seems to have been the case up to now?"

Samantha Carter nodded. "I've discussed it at length with Dr. Lee and Dr. Felger, and we have a hypothesis," she said. "We think it occurred because their device…the timer…was activated at the exact moment that our Stargate locked in the seventh symbol. The Stargate, rather than opening a wormhole to P7J-989, somehow attracted here the wormhole opened by Mallory's device."

"How is that possible?," Hammond asked.

Carter shrugged. "We don't know, Sir. There is still so much about the Stargate that we don't know. And of course, Mallory's device is a complete mystery."

"As of now that's only a hypothesis, mind you," Dr. Lee put in. "Until we can test it, we won't know for sure."

"And exactly how we would test it, we're not sure either," Felger added.

Hammond frowned. He didn't like the uncertainty of all this. Looking again at Captain Carter, he asked, "Is there a possibility of a similar malfunction sending one of our teams into an alternate universe, where they can't be recovered?"

Carter frowned in return. "I don't know, but I would be lying if I said it weren't a possibility." Lee and Felger nodded.

Turning to Dr. Lee, Hammond said, "Doctor, you've examined the device confiscated from Mr. Mallory. What is your opinion of it?"

"Amazingly sophisticated," Dr. Lee said. "And the wonder of it is that it is constructed completely with components manufactured here on Earth. Stuff you can pick up at Radio Shack, mostly, with some modifications, of course."

"Is this something we can adapt to our own program?," Hammond asked.

"Very possibly," Lee replied.

"One major flaw of the device is the whole timer thing," Felger added. "It may be possible to redesign it so it will maintain a fix on our Earth at all times, which can be activated at will by the user of the device, without waiting for a timer to run down. Of course that will take some effort, but with Mr. Mallory's assistance, we could probably do it."

"Sir, Professor Arturo is also a brilliant Physicist," Captain Carter said. "He was Regent's Professor of Cosmology and Ontology at the University of California at Berkeley and has written a number of influential papers on quantum physics. If he could be persuaded to join our program, I think he'd be a definite asset."

"I'll take that under consideration, Captain," General Hammond replied. Turning to Daniel Jackson, he said, "You and Captain Carter have been speaking to them on both a formal and informal basis. Have you found any evidence thus far that they are not of this world?"

"No, General," Dr. Jackson said. "We've been going over random trivia about current events, history, culture, just about anything we can think of to ask. Everything from our world seems to match the situation in the world they came from. Of course, who really knows? The difference between our world and Mr. Mallory's home world, if they are not in fact one and the same, could be something so completely trivial that we'd never know about it…like, for example, some person in a small town in South Africa deciding to paint their bedroom walls blue instead of green. It could be that insignificant."

"So what you're telling me is, we will never be able to determine, with absolute certainty, if Mr. Mallory and his companions are native to our world," General Hammond said, shaking his head in dismay. He sighed deeply. "Well, I guess the question then becomes, is our world similar enough to his home world that he and his companions will want to settle down here?"

"You'll have to ask Quinn and his companions that question, General," Jackson replied. "Only they can answer it."

"What if they decide they'd rather not stay? You're not going to let them leave, are you?," Colonel O'Neill asked.

"I'm not sure that I can, in good conscience, hold them here against their wills," Hammond replied.

"General," O'Neill said forcefully, "letting them go and take that technology with them would be a big mistake. The advantages it could give us…"

"I'm well aware of the advantages it would give us," Hammond replied. "I will consider that factor when I make my final decision, Colonel."

"Yes, Sir," Colonel O'Neill said. "Thank you, Sir." O'Neill sat back in his chair again, satisfied. He trusted Hammond to make the right decision.

"Now," Hammond said, "I know you've all got work to do." He stood up. "Dismissed."


	4. Chapter 4

-1CHAPTER FOUR

STARGATE COMMAND, JULY 19, 1998, 0800 HOURS

Quinn Mallory sat in one of the two large mess halls on Level 22 of Stargate command, eating breakfast with his traveling companions, Wade Welles, Rembrandt Brown, and Professor Maximilian Arturo. As he munched on his Froot Loops, he listened to Arturo grouse about the fare.

"With the hundreds of billions of dollars we spend on our military establishment," Arturo said, looking with disgust at the gray, limp excuse for a sausage which he was holding up before his face, speared on his fork, like a lab exhibit, "one would think that at least some of those dollars would go to providing edible victuals. Bah!" He laid the sausage back on his plate, shaking his head in disdain.

"They ain't as bad as they look, Professor," Remmy said, then took a bite out of a sausage just like the one Arturo had so theatrically rejected. "I think they're pretty good." He popped another into his mouth.

Arturo looked at him with a jaundiced eye. "Each to his own, Mr. Brown," he said. "But truthfully, have you ever met a sausage you _didn't _like?"

Wade giggled at the exchange, then looked at Quinn. "Are you going to speak to them again about getting the timer back?," she asked.

Quinn swallowed his cereal, then nodded. "Yes," he said. "I've got to get them to see reason somehow."

"But Quinn, what if _this_ is our Earth?," she asked, dipping her spoon into her oatmeal. "I know we've had a lot of disappointments, but this one is looking really good. Everything seems to be like it ought to be." She took a bite of her oatmeal, chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed.

Quinn nodded. He knew that Wade was right. This world seemed closer to their own home world than any of the others they'd encountered so far. But he was afraid to hope. "I just don't know, Wade. If it's not our world, twenty-nine years is a long, long time to be stuck here."

By now, Arturo and Remmy were listening to the exchange between Quinn and Wade. Remmy spoke up.

"Q-Ball," he asked, "how long can we keep going? What if we can never be sure we've found our Earth again? At what point do we just pick a place that seems homelike enough, and settle down?"

Wade nodded. "Remmy's right, Quinn," she said. She reached across the table and took one of his hands. "We can't keep going forever. Can we?" She looked at Arturo. "What do you think?"

Arturo smiled wanly. "I'm sorry, Miss Welles," he said. "I really can't intrude into this debate." Arturo had recently learned that he was afflicted with a terminal illness. Indeed, he had attempted to stop sliding upon learning of this, to settle down and enjoy what little time he had left. He had continued to slide because Quinn needed him, and because it was obvious that Quinn was more fearful of his friend and mentor's impending death than Arturo himself was. "I will abide by whatever Mr. Mallory decides."

Quinn looked at his dear friend and mentor sadly. He knew that Arturo was dying, but Arturo had requested that this be kept secret from the others. Quinn knew that Arturo had wanted to settle down on one of the worlds through which they'd passed, and had kept sliding because Quinn couldn't deal with losing him. Guilt surged through him as he reflected upon his own selfishness. Was it right to force the others to continue on this mad journey? Was there any point to it all?

As these depressing thoughts filled his mind, Colonel Jack O'Neill stepped up to their table.

"Good morning, all," he said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Colonel," Wade said, smiling. The others nodded and murmured their own greetings.

"General Hammond would like to speak with you," O'Neill said. "If you're done with breakfast," he added.

Quinn nodded. "We'd like to speak with him, too," he said, getting up. The other three got up as well.

"Great!," O'Neill said. "Let's go."

Quinn and his companions followed O'Neill out of the mess hall and down the corridor to an elevator. The elevator took them to Level 27, where O'Neill led them down another corridor to the by-now familiar briefing room. Upon entering, they found General Hammond waiting, along with Captain Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c.

"Good morning," General Hammond said as they entered. "Please be seated." The new arrivals did as they were told, taking seats along one side of the conference table. Colonel O'Neill moved to a place next to Hammond.

"I've spoken to the President," General Hammond began, "and in light of the results of our investigation of you and in light of the…shall we say, unique…technology which came with you, I've been authorized to reveal certain information to you which is classified as Ultra Top Secret. This information is, quite possibly, the most highly classified and sensitive information in the world. What I am about to tell you _cannot_, under any circumstances, _ever_ be revealed to _anyone_ outside this facility. It goes without saying that this regulation is strictly enforced and carries the highest penalties allowed by law."

Turning to O'Neill, he said, "Colonel…" O'Neill rose, and picking up a stack of papers in front of him, distributed one copy each to Quinn and his companions. After O'Neill returned to his seat, Hammond continued.

"Please read these documents," Hammond said. "By signing them, you agree to abide by the terms of the security agreement, under penalty of law. If, for some reason, you feel you cannot sign this document, you will be escorted out of this room and returned to your quarters. Those of you who do sign and remain may _not _reveal the contents of this discussion to anyone who has not signed this waiver. Once again, failure to comply with this directive will be punished to the full extent of the law, and carries the highest penalties allowed by law."

Quinn and his companions read the documents, and one by one, they all signed them. Colonel O'Neill retrieved them and handed them to General Hammond. General Hammond quickly examined the signatures, then placed the documents into a manila folder, which he set down on the table in front of him.

"Mr. Mallory, Professor Arturo, Mr. Brown, Miss Welles," Hammond began, "you've no doubt wondered exactly what sort of military facility this is."

Quinn spoke up. "Yes, General. Based on bits and pieces we've heard, I gather that your activity here centers around something called a Stargate. But as to what that might be, or anything else, it's all still a complete mystery to us." The others nodded.

Hammond nodded. "You are very observant, Mr. Mallory," the General said. "I had thought that might be the case. Yes, our program here is called Stargate Command, and our operations do indeed center around the Stargate, which is the large, ring-like object which you saw on your arrival here."

"So _that's_ a Stargate," Wade Welles said. "I wondered what on earth that could be." The others nodded.

"A Stargate is a device which allows nearly instantaneous travel, via a wormhole, to a Stargate located on another planet in the Milky Way galaxy," General Hammond said. "For the past year, we've been sending teams through the gate to explore planets scattered throughout the galaxy. In the process, we've discovered that the majority of this galaxy is under the despotic rule of a highly advanced alien race called the Goa'uld. and as of now, Earth is at war with them."

"And you're keeping this secret from the people of the world?," Wade Welles burst out. "That's insane!"

Dr. Arturo shook his head. "No, actually, Miss Welles, it makes complete sense," he said. "If such information were released, the result would be worldwide panic which would lead to needless death and suffering, as well as impairing the ability of our military forces to defend the planet."

General Hammond nodded. "Exactly so, Doctor," he said. "Therefore, the decision was made, at the very highest levels, to keep that information secret."

"But how can you fight a war without the people of Earth knowing?," Remmy asked, disbelieving what he was hearing.

"Thus far," General Hammond said, "the war has been mostly fought on other planets. Our tactic has been to send in small special ops teams to perform sabotage operations on enemy facilities and to seek to acquire alien technology with which we can defend the Earth."

"What stops these…Goa'uld…from doing the same to you?," Remmy asked.

"We have a shield which protects our gate, called the Iris," Hammond said. "We only allow incoming gate travel when we are certain that the incoming travelers are not hostile. When the Iris is closed, anyone attempting to come through the gate is instantly killed."

"You say your war has been _mostly_ fought that way," Quinn said. "But not completely?"

"No, not completely," General Hammond said. "The Goa'uld have ships capable of faster-than-light travel, and they sent a small fleet here a few months ago to conquer the planet. Had they succeeded, the population of Earth would have been either exterminated or enslaved."

"They obviously didn't succeed," Quinn said. "How did you beat them and keep _that_ secret?"

"We were lucky," Hammond said. "There were two enemy vessels on approach to Earth. Colonel O'Neill and SG-1 managed to get aboard one of the alien starships. They managed to sabotage the vessel, and the explosion of the one also destroyed the other. The explosions were seen from all over the earth."

Colonel O'Neill smiled. "The government put out the story that it was a large asteroid which had entered Earth's atmosphere and then exploded."

"And people believed that?," Remmy asked, shaking his head.

"There were skeptics, of course," O'Neill said. "But contrary to popular belief, when Uncle Sam really wants to keep a secret, he can."

"Those who had evidence to the contrary…primarily certain astronomers whose telescopes were trained on that area of the sky at the time…were quietly rounded up and the evidence destroyed," Hammond said. "They were placed under a waiver similar to the one you've just signed."

"But why don't these Goa'uld just come back and finish the job," Remmy asked.

"We're not sure why they haven't," General Hammond admitted. "The most likely theory is that they don't know the cause of the destruction of their warships, and so are being cautious. Or it could be that we're just not considered a big enough threat to worry about, and they plan to deal with us at a more convenient time."

"Who are these Goa'uld?," Quinn asked. "What are they like?"

Colonel O'Neill looked at Teal'c. "Teal'c, why don't you show them?" Teal'c smiled slightly, then stood up. He lifted his shirt to reveal an odd-looking X-shaped formation on his belly. It looked like a poorly-healed wound to Quinn. Then, to the horror of Quinn and the others, Teal'c stuck his hand into this…whatever it was…and slowly pulled out a weird-looking, snake-like creature which writhed and struggled in his hand. As he pulled it free, it gave out a high-pitched squeal.

Wade shrieked in terror, recoiling out of her chair and huddling in one corner of the room. "Oh my God!," she exclaimed. "Teal'c is one of these Goa'ulds?" Remmy and Quinn got up to comfort her.

Teal'c replaced the squirming creature back into the pouch on his belly, which resealed itself. "No," he said, "I am not a Goa'uld. The creature which I removed from the symbiote pouch is a Goa'uld."

Gradually Remmy and Quinn got Wade back under control, and the three of them resumed their seats. As they did so, Daniel Jackson spoke up. "The Goa'uld are a race of parasitic life forms. Teal'c is a Jaffa, one of a race of genetically engineered humans who were bred to serve as incubators for the Goa'uld young, and also to serve as warriors for the Goa'uld."

Teal'c nodded. "In exchange for protecting the young Goa'uld while it matures, the Goa'uld provides superior strength and endurance, resistance to disease and long life. It also can heal wounds which are received by the Jaffa in whose body it resides."

"When the Goa'uld matures," Dr. Jackson continued, "it is taken from the Jaffa's pouch and enters a human host, attaching itself to the host's brain and completely suppressing the will and personality of the host, enslaving the person. In this way, the Goa'uld gains the ability to use technology, control armies, and…"

"And all the other dastardly things they do," Colonel O'Neill said. "All you really need to know is that the Goa'uld are evil, pure and simple. They destroy life on a planetary scale when it suits them, and those who are not destroyed are enslaved. They are the ultimate galactic bad guys. And we will resist them until either we or they are dead and buried."

"You say they take human hosts," Dr. Arturo said. "Where do they get these hosts?"

"Thousands of years ago," Daniel Jackson replied, "the Goa'uld came to Earth and enslaved the human race. They displayed great powers and the primitive people of that time worshipped them as gods. They found humans to be the ideal host for their species, and colonies of humans were transplanted to planets across the galaxy. Some of these eventually were used to create the Jaffa. Others were used as slave labor, or as hosts for the Goa'uld themselves. The descendants of these people are still exploited by the Goa'uld today."

"If that is true, then why aren't they still here?," Quinn asked.

"The Goa'uld System Lord who established himself here on Earth was called Ra. He was worshipped by the Egyptians as the God of the Sun," Daniel Jackson said. "There was a great rebellion against his rule in 2995 B.C., Ra was defeated and he and the lesser Goa'uld who served him were forced to flee. For reasons which are unknown, he never came back, but established himself on the planet Abydos."

"Did the Goa'uld build the Stargates, then?," Dr. Arturo asked.

"No," Captain Carter said. "Another, even older and more powerful race, who we know as the Gate Builders, did that. The Goa'uld have simply plundered the technology left behind by the Gate Builders. They create very little of their own."

"How long have you known about the Stargates and the Goa'uld?," Quinn asked.

"Our own Stargate was discovered in Egypt in 1928," Daniel Jackson said. "It was brought to the United States, but it took decades of intensive study to figure out what it was intended to do and how to operate it. This occurred only in 1994."

Quinn looked at General Hammond. "General," he said, "all this is fascinating, but why are you telling us about it?"

"Well, Mr. Mallory," General Hammond said, "as you are aware, the investigation into your story and the possibility that you are, in fact, natives of our Earth, has strongly indicated that such is, in fact, the case. While we may not ever be able to be one hundred percent certain, every test has been positive. I'm sure that you've considered the possible military applications of the technology you've developed. Given the situation in which Earth now finds itself, it goes without saying that we can use every advantage we can get. It is our hope that, as citizens of Earth, you will want to assist us with the defense of the planet, and the President has authorized me to offer the four of you positions with the Stargate Program."

"Wait a minute," Remmy said. "What would I do here? I'm a musician!"

Colonel O'Neill smiled. "Yes, I remember you. The Crying Man. I loved _Tears In My Fro._" Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter looked at him, mystified. O'Neill smirked at them. "A little before your time," he said.

"Actually," General Hammond said, "we retrieved your military record. You were in the United States Navy at the end of the Vietnam War. So you have some military training and combat experience. And your travels over the past couple of years, based on some of what you've told us, have given you experience which is almost directly applicable to our operations here. I think you'd make a fine addition to one of our SG-teams." He looked at Wade Welles. "The same with you, Miss Welles. Or if you prefer a less hazardous duty, you have some experience with computers, from what I understand. We can always use another research assistant." Looking over at Quinn and Arturo, he said, "Mr. Mallory, Doctor Arturo, I think your skills speak for themselves and would be a huge asset to our program."

Quinn's mind was reeling as he listened. As he considered the offer, Dr. Arturo spoke up.

"General," he said, "I feel there is something you must know, before I accept such an offer. I am dying. I was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness."

"I am aware of that, Doctor," Hammond said. "Doctor Fraiser's analysis of the blood sample she took from you indicated that was the case. However, we can offer you some hope. The Goa'uld have healing devices which can perform medical miracles. Many other races likely do as well. We will make it a priority to obtain one of these devices at the earliest opportunity."

"There's something else you need to know, General," Quinn said. "In our travels, we found that most of the Earths we visited were quite similar to this one. They were inhabited by people like us…humans. But not all."

"Not all?," Hammond said, as the implications of Quinn's statement began to hit home.

"No, General," Quinn said. "We ran into one race in particular, called the Kromaggs, which pose a severe threat to this world. The Kromaggs are a hominid primate species which evidently competed with, and killed off, Homo Sapiens on its version of Earth. They developed a highly advanced civilization, and later developed sliding technology which allowed them to visit other universes, just like we have done. They were horrified to find that Homo Sapiens dominated most of the Earths in the alternate universes, and they began invading these alternate Earths, brutally conquering, and then enslaving or exterminating the people. We know they have already conquered dozens, if not hundreds of worlds. Although we have no evidence that they are capable of space travel as the Goa'uld seem to be, they could be every bit as dangerous an enemy as the Goa'uld."

"How technologically advanced are they?," Hammond asked.

"Very," Quinn said. "Our experience with them was brief, but we know they have advanced energy weapons and anti-gravity propulsion, at the very least. And they are telepathic on some level…they have the ability to implant illusions in the minds of others."

Hammond sighed and sat back in his chair. "Well, all the more reason why we need you here."

"Q-Ball, what do you think?," Remmy asked.

Quinn sighed. "I don't know what to think. This is all a little much to swallow, all in one bite." Then he looked at Arturo. _These people have offered him a chance, albeit a small one, for a cure, _Quinn thought to himself. _I can't take that away from him. _He looked at his companions, then back at General Hammond.

"I'm willing to stay, if the others are," Quinn said.

"I accept your offer, General," Arturo said immediately.

Wade and Remmy looked at each other, then at Quinn and Arturo. Then, both of them nodded.

"We'll stay, too," they said together.

General Hammond smiled. "Good!," he said. "Welcome to the Stargate Program. I look forward to working with all of you." He stood up. "SG-1 will see to your orientation into the mysteries of the program," he said. "Dismissed."

Quinn got up and, with the others, filed out of the room. As he did so, his head was swimming, his mind still boggled by the fantastic information he had learned in the meeting. A super-secret program waging a secret interstellar war with an advanced alien race? And he was going to be a part of it? _What in hell have I gotten us into this time?, _he thought to himself. _God help us. _


	5. Chapter 5

-1CHAPTER FIVE

STARGATE COMMAND, OCTOBER 15, 1998, 1200 HOURS

Dr. Maximilian Arturo lay on an examination table, looking up, none too patiently, at the ceiling of the infirmary located on Level 21 of the Stargate Command Center beneath Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. He was waiting for the arrival of Dr. Janet Fraiser, who would shortly examine him to monitor the progress of his illness. The cancer which was slowly spreading inside him was sapping his vitality, and he had lost a good deal of weight since his arrival here at the SGC. Furthermore, he was experiencing increasing pain. Dr. Fraiser had wanted to confine him to bed and start pumping him full of pain-killers some time ago, but he had refused. His mind was still good, and he refused to be rendered into a virtual vegetable, so doped up with pain-killers that he couldn't function, as his own father had been when he died of a nearly identical illness, so many years ago. _No, _he thought, wincing with pain as he did so, _that's not how I want to go. _

But Dr. Fraiser was not cooperating with his own stated desires, and had insisted on more frequent visits as his health deteriorated further, much to his frustration. _While I appreciate the efforts the good doctor is making on my behalf,_ he thought to himself as he waited for her arrival, _I wish she would just let me get back to work. There's nothing she can do for me. At least I can make myself useful during the time I have left and die with dignity. _

As he lay ruminating on his fate, he thought of his traveling companions and their own fates. Since joining the Stargate Program in July, the four Sliders had been assigned to different tasks within the SGC.

Arturo's mind drifted first to Wade Welles. Wade was making good use of her excellent computer skills here in the SGC, assisting various scientists with research projects. And more recently, she had been trained by Sergeant Harriman to operate the computers which controlled the Stargate itself. Arturo smiled as he thought of that. Wade and the sergeant had taken a shine to each other, and had recently gone out on a couple of dates in nearby Colorado Springs. _I'm glad she's got someone besides Quinn to look after her, _he thought. _Mr. Mallory has a brilliant scientific mind, but he's blind when it comes to Miss Welles. Even I, and I'm no expert on the fair sex myself, saw how she looked at him, and that she obviously loved him, but he never did. _He shook his head sadly. _Pity, that. For both of them. _

He smiled again when he thought of Rembrandt Brown, who had been assigned to SG-3, a Marine Corps Combat Unit and exploration team under the command of Colonel Robert Makepeace. As a former Navy man, Remmy enjoyed trading barbs with the "Jarheads," as he called them, and he had meshed well with the team. It turned out that Makepeace, like Colonel O'Neill, was a fan of the "Crying Man," and he and Remmy had struck up a firm friendship. The stories which he had told Arturo about his off-world missions had been fascinating, and Arturo wished he could have gone to some of the worlds Remmy had visited.

As for Quinn Mallory and Arturo himself, both had seldom been outside of the SGC since their arrival here. Both had spent nearly every waking hour working with Samantha Carter…when she wasn't off-world on a mission…as well as Dr. Bill Lee and Dr. Jay Felger, trying to resolve the problems that he, Quinn, and their other companions had experienced with the sliding technology over the past few years. He smiled as he thought of Quinn's enthusiasm for the project. They had spoken of it just the previous night.

"I know we can make this work, Professor," Quinn had said. "We're so close I can taste it!"

"Don't get too excited, Mr. Mallory," Arturo had replied. "We've had several false starts already."

"If we only had access to a Kromagg timer," Quinn had said wistfully. "They had the ability to do directed slides to specific worlds, and to return to the world from which they came."

"Yes, that would make things easier, wouldn't it?," Arturo had said, nodding in agreement. "But you'll make it work, my boy. If the cursed Kromaggs can do it, I know you will."

"Thanks, Professor," Quinn had replied, smiling warmly. "That means a lot to me."

"As it should, my boy," Arturo had said with a wink. Quinn laughed, and then Arturo had continued, "And remember, you've got some of the finest scientific minds on this planet behind you. There's me, of course. And Captain Carter is brilliant, as are Dr. Lee and Dr. Felger. Although Felger is a bit of a klutz."

Quinn laughed again. "He is, isn't he? But as you say, a brilliant mind. Yes, with a team like that, I know we'll do it."

Arturo smiled again, then his expression assumed a more somber cast as he reflected on his own fate again. A wave of pain surged through him, and despite his best efforts, a groan escaped him. _Discipline, Maximilian_, he thought to himself as he clenched his teeth to stifle himself until the wave passed. _Discipline and fortitude. There's a good man. _Indeed, he was proud of the control which he had so far exhibited in the face of the unrelenting pain of his disease, not least because of the false hopes which had presented themselves, only to turn to dust and ashes in his grasp.

First there had been the time when, just a couple of weeks after their arrival here, SG-1 had brought back a Goa'uld healing device from the planet Cimmeria, which had been rescued, with SG-1's help, from an invasion by the Goa'uld System Lord, Heru'ur. Samantha Carter, who had gained the partial ability to use such devices after having served as the unwilling host of the Tok'ra, Jolinar of Malkshur, had attempted to use it to heal Arturo, but had failed, her skill at controlling the device being insufficient to the task. She had been able to somewhat retard the spread of the cancer, which had allowed Arturo to survive longer than he otherwise would have, but beyond that, had been unable to help, not even with the pain the disease caused him. _All she really succeeded in doing, _he thought ruefully, _was to prolong my agony. As they say, the road to hell is oft paved with good intentions. _

And then, just a couple of weeks ago, another hope had presented itself. Contact had been made with the Tok'ra, who were, as Arturo understood it, a group of rebel Goa'uld who opposed the evil of the Goa'uld System Lords and only took human hosts who willingly volunteered themselves, rather than forcibly as did the other Goa'uld. Those humans who accepted Tok'ra symbiotes were cured of all disease, and granted a dramatically extended lifespan. Quinn and Wade had urged him to volunteer, as had Daniel Jackson, with whom he had become good friends. But Arturo just couldn't make himself do it. The thought of willingly surrendering control of his own mind and body to an alien parasite…even one with only benevolent intentions, as the Tok'ra claimed…just revolted him. And so he had turned down the offer. _Better to die a human,_ he thought to himself, _than to live that way_. He had found that Colonel O'Neill was in full agreement with that decision, as was Remmy, who had seen too much of the Goa'uld on his off-world missions with SG-2 to fully trust the intentions of the Tok'ra.

As he was mulling that decision over again in his head, for at least the thousandth time, he heard the door of the examination room open, and Dr. Janet Fraiser walked in. She was accompanied by middle-aged, balding man with a kind face who Arturo had never seen, dressed in the costume of a Tok'ra. Arturo cringed when he saw the man. He knew his fear was irrational, but there it was, nevertheless.

"Dr. Arturo," Fraiser said, "I'd like to introduce General Jacob Carter."

"Carter?," Arturo asked. "Are you, by chance, related to the delightful Captain Samantha Carter?"

General Carter smiled broadly. "I'm her Dad," he said. He extended his hand, and Arturo took it. "I'm pleased to meet you, Professor. I've heard a lot about you."

"Thank you, General," Arturo said. "But why are you dressed…as a Tok'ra?"

"General Carter is now the host of the Tok'ra, Selmak," Dr. Fraiser said.

Arturo recoiled slightly, withdrawing his hand. "Doctor, I've already told you that I cannot take a Tok'ra host." He looked at Carter. "I mean no offense, but such an option is just not for me."

Carter smiled. "And the Tok'ra would not dream of asking you to do so against your will," he said. "But I may still be able, with Selmak's help, to assist you."

"How?," Arturo asked suspiciously.

Carter held up his other palm, revealing that he held the Goa'uld Healing Device with which his daughter had failed in her own attempt to cure Arturo. "Sam told me that she tried to cure you with this," Carter said, "and that she succeeded in prolonging your life but not in curing you or reducing your pain. She feels terrible about that, and she asked Selmak if he would make the attempt. Selmak has agreed."

"Unlike Captain Carter," Dr. Fraiser said, "Selmak has centuries of experience using Goa'uld technology. He should be far better able to control the device, where Sam could not."

Jacob Carter looked into Arturo's eyes. "I won't lie to you, Professor Arturo. Selmak can't guarantee a cure, and he may only end up prolonging your pain, as Sam did. But other than taking a Tok'ra symbiote, this is the best chance you've got for a cure."

"I won't lie to you either," Dr. Fraiser said. "Professor, your cancer is spreading rapidly again. I estimate that, at best, you've got less than a month to live. In less than half that, the pain will be so bad that I'll be forced to confine you to bed and begin giving you intravenous pain-killers on a nearly continuous basis. You'll lapse into a state of semi-consciousness until you finally pass away."

Arturo shuddered as he listened. The fate the doctor was describing was one which he had secretly feared since watching his father's own passing, all those years ago. Now his worst fears were coming true. If there was any way to avoid that…

"All right, doctor," he said. Looking at Carter, he said, "General, I accept your offer of assistance." He paused, and then added, "And Selmak's."

Jacob smiled. Dr. Fraiser stepped out of his way, and Carter took position beside the examination table. As he looked down on Arturo, suddenly his eyes glowed. In a strange voice, he said, "I am Selmak. I will do my best to heal you. Please try to relax."

Arturo nodded nervously, and tried to relax as he had been instructed. Selmak smiled, and lifted the Healing Device, holding it over Arturo's body. He closed his eyes, and a look of intense concentration came over his face. The red crystal of the device began to glow, and a humming noise could be heard. The glow increased until it became so bright that it was almost painful for Arturo to look at, and then spread down, somehow, from the crystal toward Arturo's body. Arturo could feel a sensation of warmth as the glowing, reddish aura surrounded him. To his amazement, his pain began to fade.

"My God, Sir," he exclaimed. "The pain…it's going away!"

Selmak smiled again. "Lie still," he said quietly.

Arturo did as he was told. Selmak's face resumed its look of utter concentration, and the crystal glowed even brighter than before. Arturo closed his eyes, the brightness of the crystal now too much to bear. Then, suddenly, Selmak sighed, and ceased using the device. He staggered back slightly and Dr. Fraiser rushed to catch him. Selmak waved her away.

"The device," he said to Fraiser, "is very draining to use. I must rest now." He looked down at Arturo. "You are not cured…yet. But you responded well to the treatment, and I am confident that I can cure you. It will take several treatments, however."

"That's…that's wonderful, General Carter…Selmak…," Arturo stammered. "Thank you…both."

Selmak nodded, and the glow in his eyes faded. When next he spoke, it was with the voice of Jacob Carter.

"Call me Jacob," Carter said, smiling. "We'll be back later, after Selmak has rested." Nodding to Dr. Fraiser, he turned and left the room.

"Doctor, I don't know how to thank you, and everyone here," Arturo said.

"You don't have to thank me," Fraiser said, grinning. "You've been one of the most ornery patients I've ever had to deal with, Professor. I'll be glad to be rid of you."

Arturo laughed. "May I return to work, until Selmak is ready again?"

"I don't see why not," Fraiser said.

"Thank you again, Doctor," Arturo said. He climbed off the bed, and as Fraiser left the room, took off his hospital gown and began putting his clothes back on. He smiled again.

"Mr. Mallory will be pleased," he softly said to himself as he buttoned his shirt. "Yes, indeed." Slipping on his sport coat, he smiled again, and left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

-1CHAPTER SIX

PLANET P3M-299, OCTOBER 31, 1998

On October 31, 1998, SG-3, the United States Marine Corps Combat Unit and exploration team commanded by Colonel Robert Makepeace, was assigned to protect an archaeological team exploring ruins on Planet P3M-299. The archaeologists had run into some kind of trouble with the native wildlife, and had called for additional security. It promised to be a rather routine and less-than-exiting mission, overall.

Rembrandt Brown, as usual, had accompanied them, and as he stepped out of the event horizon of the planet's stargate and looked around, he shuddered slightly. The stargate sat in what looked like the dungeon of an old castle, its forbidding gray stone walls only dimly lit by the torches which flared fitfully from a couple of nearby iron holders, set into the stone with large iron pins. Evidently the planet was home to some form of native arachnid, and spooky-looking webs hung from the ceilings and covered portions of the walls. As the men stepped down off the platform on which the stargate sat, air displaced by their movements shook these webs slightly, making them look even creepier, at least to Remmy. And of course, the pile of ancient human bones lying in one corner…the skull seeming to grin at them in the eerie light…certainly did nothing to change that impression. _Figures we'd be sent to this place on Halloween,_ Remmy thought miserably to himself. _Count Dracula would feel right at home. _

Colonel Makepeace, a barrel-chested and ramrod-straight Marine officer whose bulldog-like face, closely-cropped brown hair and piercing blue eyes only served to highlight his extreme professionalism, was obviously not happy either, but for a different reason. They had expected to be greeted at the gate by a member of the archaeological team they had been assigned to protect, but there was nobody here.

"Spread out and keep your eyes open," he ordered. "Something smells about this situation."

The Marines and Remmy assumed a loose skirmish formation. Remmy raised his submachine gun warily. He didn't like stepping into the unexpected any more than Makepeace did. The other Marines did likewise.

"Okay, let's move out," Makepeace said. Looking at one of the Marines, he said, "Marzetti, you take point." Sergeant Vince Marzetti, a short, dark-haired man with black eyes who looked every bit as Italian as his name, nodded and stepped forward, and the others followed.

There was a staircase leading out of the "dungeon" and the team carefully made its way up the worn, crumbling stone steps. Marzetti grabbed a torch out of a holder on one of the walls to light their way, but by then the rest of the team had put on their night-vision goggles, which made the place look even creepier to Remmy. He shuddered again.

At the top of the stairs was a large opening where, Remmy assumed, a wooden door…now long since decayed into dust…had once stood. They passed through it, and into the blackness of a long hallway. The flickering light of the torches revealed that the hall, like the dungeon, was festooned with cobwebs. Small native rodents, very similar to rats but eyeless and with small antennae on their heads instead of ears, scurried about, trying to get away from the intruders.

"Have I ever told you how much I _hate_ rats," Sergeant Alex Baker grumbled to Remmy as he kicked one of the rodents out of his way.

"You and me both," Remmy said.

"Pipe down, both of you," Colonel Makepeace ordered, a stern look on his face.

Silently, the team made its way down the hall, which finally exited into another room, a vast cavernous space which was much larger than the "dungeon" but similar to it except for the lack of a stargate, with doors leading out of two of the walls.

"Which way, Sir?," Marzetti asked.

A thick layer of dust covered the floor, and there were clear trails made, and quite recently, by what were clearly human feet. The trail leading to one of the doors was, by far, more heavily used than the other. Colonel Makepeace pointed in that direction, and Marzetti nodded once more, leading the way.

The doorway led to yet another long hallway. After some distance, the hallway turned to the left, and as the team rounded the corner, they were confronted by a gruesome sight. A body lay in the hall. Rats swarmed over it, ripping away at the flesh. They could see that it was clearly a member of the archaelogical team. The rats scampered away, squealing, when confronted by the intruders, and Marzetti knelt down by the grotesquely mutilated corpse. Reaching down, he unclipped a name tag from the front of the dead archaeologist's olive green fatigue blouse. He frowned as he looked at it.

"It's Dr. Petersen," he said, looking up at Colonel Makepeace. Makepeace frowned in turn. Dr. Carl Petersen had been the leader of this expedition.

"Any indication of what killed him?," Makepeace asked.

Marzetti examined the body more closely. "It's hard to tell," he said. "Now that the rats have had their way with it, there's not much to see." Then he grunted. "Wait a minute," he said, rolling the body onto its belly. A crude arrow was buried in Petersen's back, the shaft evidently broken off when the dead man had fallen backward onto it after being struck. Marzetti picked up the broken shaft.

"Holy shit," Remmy said.

"I thought they said they were having some trouble with the local wildlife," Sergeant Baker said. "What the fuck!"

"What the fuck, indeed," Colonel Makepeace said. "Well, that's one accounted for. Where are the other archaeologists, and the four Marines we're supposed to be relieving?"

Just then, they heard the sound of automatic weapons fire, coming from somewhere up ahead.

"Come on!," Makepeace said, rushing forward, weapon raised and ready. The others followed. The hall turned another corner, and then, at the end of another long hall, they could see sunlight entering through what was obviously a door to the outside world. They advanced toward the light cautiously, and dimly saw a human form step out from some shadows next to the lighted doorway. The figure aimed a weapon out the door, and squeezed off a burst of fire on full auto. They heard what sounded like a hundred cats…or maybe a thousand of them…howling and screaming outside. Several arrows flew through the door, clattering onto the hard stone floors of the hallway.

Colonel Makepeace called out. "Marine! Identify yourself!

The figure next to the doorway spun around, wildly aiming his weapon in their direction. "Who the fuck is that!," the man shouted.

"SG-3!," Makepeace shouted back. "I say again, identify yourself!"

"Corporal Raul Jimenez, SG-5," the man shouted, lowering his weapon.

Makepeace motioned his team forward, and they soon joined the obviously terrified Corporal next to the door.

"Report!," Makepeace commanded.

Jimenez came to attention and saluted. "Sir! Yes, Sir!," he exclaimed. "Sir, about three hours ago the archaeologists asked us to escort them on a trail they found leading through the forest. They were convinced that it led to more ruins. We got about a half a Klick into the woods when we were ambushed. Hundreds of these little, furry creatures attacked us from all sides…left, right, even from above. Three of my team and all but one of the eggheads were cut down by the first volley of arrows. Dr. Petersen and I hauled ass back here as fast as we could, but the fucking furry bastards followed us. Petersen caught an arrow in the back, but he kept running and I didn't think it was too bad. He ran down the hall, and I thought he was going to the gate room to call for backup and extraction. So I stayed here to hold off the pursuit. But nobody came, until you showed up just now." The Corporal saluted again. "Sir, I am fucking glad to see you, Sir!"

Makepeace returned the salute. "Calm down, Marine," he said. "We found Petersen around the bend, dead. He never made it to the gate."

Jimenez smiled grimly. "I thought the bastard wrote me off as dead and self-evacuated," he said.

Just then there was an unworldly high pitched keening from hundreds of alien throats outside, and arrows started flying through the doorway again.

"Take cover," Makepeace ordered. But the other members of SG-3 were way ahead of him, already flattened against the walls on either side of the open doorway.

Makepeace stuck his head briefly around the doorjamb, peering out at the woods which encroached to within fifty yards of the doorway. As he did so, an arrow grazed his helmet and skittered off down the hall. Makepeace pointed his weapon in the direction from which the arrow had come. He saw several of the furry creatures…they resembled, oddly enough, little bears, clad in leather and rude cloth of some kind…scamper for cover when they saw him point his weapon at them. Then more arrows flew in his direction, and Makepeace ducked back inside.

"I can't believe it," he said. "We're under siege by the fucking Ewoks."

Remmy took a quick look outside, then looked at Makepeace. "You ain't shittin'," he said. "They do look like Ewoks!"

"Ewoks?," Jimenez asked, clearly puzzled by the reference.

Baker looked at him with shocked expression. "Don't tell me. You never saw _Return of the Jedi_?"

Jimenez grinned. "I'm a Trekkie, man, not a Warzie!"

Marzetti looked at Colonel Makepeace. "What are we gonna do, Sir?"

"Well, we're not going to hang around here, that's for sure," Colonel Makepeace said.

"Sir," Jimenez said, "every time I've tried to leave this position they've seen me, and they rush the door. They've got a healthy respect for our weapons, but there's too many of them. If they get in here, they'll just over-run us."

Makepeace frowned. He was relatively confident that his team could hold them back…at least while they were still in this relatively narrow hallway. But they didn't have unlimited ammunition. And if the creatures followed them to the large room which they had passed through on the way here, where they'd have room to maneuver and get around their flanks, that could be bad. Very bad.

"Stuck like flies on flypaper," he said.

"Yes, Sir," Jimenez said. "And it's worse than that, Sir. There are other entries into this complex, and if they find one of those, they could end up getting behind us in this hall and boxing us in from both sides. And if that happens..."

"We're fucked," Marzetti said, completing his sentence.

Remmy, for his part, was having very similar thoughts. The creatures outside kept howling and shouting and firing arrows into the doorway at random intervals, and the eerie, high-pitched voices of the creatures were getting on his nerves. The net effect of all this was, to put it mildly, scaring the crap out of him. And he had, ever since he was a kid, always comforted himself by singing when things looked bad. And they certainly looked bad now.

He began to hum, softly at first, and then louder. The others looked at him. Seeing he had an audience, he began to sing the words of "Cry Like a Man," the greatest hit of his musical career. Colonel Makepeace grinned, and to Remmy's surprise, began to sing with him. The duet grew more confident, and their singing grew louder. The other Marines looked at each other and grinned.

And then, suddenly, everybody noticed that the unearthly howling outside had stopped. Jimenez peeked cautiously around the doorjamb, and gasped.

"Well, I'll be damned, Sir," he said. "They've all come out of cover. They've thrown down their weapons, and they're just standing there, listening."

Makepeace stopped singing and came to the door to look out. Remmy was still singing in the background, and Makepeace could see that the creatures were listening, entranced. Makepeace motioned for Remmy to come to the door. Remmy stopped singing, handed his weapon to Marzetti and stepped out into the sunlight. He saw the creatures looking at him. Remmy held his hands up, palm outward, showing he was unarmed. Then he began to sing again. Falling back into his stage personna, he began to dance, and as he belted out the lyrics of "Cry Like a Man", the tears started to flow.

The creatures watched with rapt attention, and then, gradually, some of them started imitating his movements. Others began humming the tune in their unearthly alien voices. Remmy had never dreamed he'd ever have a backup group like this. It sent a shiver down his spine. But he kept singing.

"Jimenez," Colonel Makepeace said with a wry smile on his face, "it looks like we've made successful first contact with the natives. Get back to the gate room and inform General Hammond. We'll need a diplomatic team. Preferably one with good singing voices."

Jimenez grinned. "Yes, Sir!," he said.

Makepeace looked at the other Marines. "Marzetti and Baker, go with him." The three Marines quietly crept away, as ordered.

Makepeace laid down his own weapon, stepped outside and began to sing duet with Remmy again. _Well,_ he thought to himself and grinned again,_ they say that music calms the heart of the savage beast._ _Who would've thunk it?_


	7. Chapter 7

-1CHAPTER SEVEN

STARGATE COMMAND, 10 NOVEMBER 1998, 1300 HOURS

On the afternoon of November 10, 1998, Rembrandt Brown sat in the now familiar Briefing Room on Level 27 of the Stargate Command Center beneath Cheyenne Mountain, waiting for the arrival of General Hammond. With him was Colonel Robert Makepeace, who, like Brown, had just returned from planet P3M-299, and was to, with Remmy, debrief General Hammond on their mission to said planet. Also there was Dr. Daniel Jackson, who had been assigned to study the notes left behind by the team of deceased archaeologists who had been killed by the inhabitants of the planet, and Major Stan Kovacek, who headed the diplomatic team of negotiators and linguists which had been sent through to negotiate with the natives.

As he waited for Hammond's arrival, Remmy thought back on the past few days. He was still astounded that his singing…and that of Colonel Makepeace…had served as the tonic which had allowed peaceful first contact with the natives of Planet P3M-299. Over the past ten days he had sung more often than he had in the past ten years. Indeed, his vocal cords were a bit sore from overuse right now. He smiled as he remembered the way the "Ewoks," as he still thought of them, had imitated his every move and sound. _The Ewoks are bigger fans than I ever had here on Earth,_ he mused.

Now, the diplomats and linguists had taken over, and were finally making progress in learning to communicate with the natives. And so General Hammond had asked for a full briefing.

Just at that moment, the door of the briefing room opened, and General Hammond came in. Colonel Makepeace and Major Kovacek both stood and saluted as he entered. As civilians, Dr. Jackson and Remmy also stood, but did not salute.

General Hammond returned the salute. "Good afternoon," he said. "Please be seated." He moved to his own seat at the head of the table. The others sat down as well.

"Gentlemen," Hammond said, "I am anxious to hear what progress has been made on our first contact with the natives of Planet P3M-299." He looked at Daniel Jackson. "Why don't we start with you, Dr. Jackson? What have you been able to glean from the archaeological team's notes?"

"As you know, General Hammond," Daniel replied, "the team hadn't been on the planet very long. Apparently, soon after their arrival they ran into trouble with a sort of native monkey-like primate which invaded their camp and broke into their food lockers. They had also had some close encounters with a local feline predator that had led the team to request that a security detail be assigned to keep these creatures, and other local wildlife, at a distance."

"Yes, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said, nodding.

"Up until the encounter in which the archaeologists lost their lives, they apparently had no idea there was any sentient life on the planet," Jackson continued. "Their notes make no mention of these creatures at all."

Hammond frowned. "Did you find anything useful in the notes at all?," he asked.

"I may have," Daniel replied, nodding. "Dr. Petersen noted that the underground complex which they were exploring appeared to be of ancient Goa'uld construction. They found the remains of Jaffa in many places throughout the ruins."

"Well, that makes sense," Hammond replied. "The native creatures of the planet surely couldn't have built such a structure. They're too primitive."

"At first glance, it appears that way," Daniel said. "But I found some other things in Dr. Petersen's notes which indicate this might not actually be the case."

"Like what?," Hammond asked, clearly surprised.

"Dr. Petersen discovered some inscriptions inside and outside the complex which were not of Goa'uld origin," Daniel said. "He copied them down, but didn't have a clue as to who had made them."

"But you think you know?," replied Hammond.

Daniel nodded. "If you recall our mission to the planet Heliopolis," he said, "we found inscriptions in four alien languages in one of the rooms of the castle there. I've theorized that this place was a meeting room, a gathering place for four alien races of great antiquity and power. The writing found on P3M-299 matches one of the inscriptions found at Heliopolis. Dr. Petersen also noted that the inscriptions were found at about waist-level for an average human being, indicating they were probably inscribed by, and/or meant to be viewed by, a creature of much shorter stature than a human being."

"So you think the natives might have made them?," Hammond said, frowning.

"It's certainly possible," Daniel said. "We actually know very little about these creatures. And if these creatures are the race who left the inscription at Heliopolis, they'd have to be far more advanced than their outer appearance would indicate."

"Like the Nox," General Hammond said thoughtfully.

"Yes, General," Daniel said. "Very possibly."

Hammond now looked at Kovacek. "Major," he said, "what are your impressions of the creatures?"

"Hard to say at the moment, Sir," replied Kovacek, a tall man with reddish hair and pale gray eyes, whose face was dominated by a large nose and a prominent cleft chin. "We're finally getting a handle on their language, but our understanding is still far from complete. But they seem quite intelligent. We've seen no indication of advanced technology as of yet, but as with the Nox, that doesn't mean they don't have it."

"But if they did have advanced technology, why would they have been armed with bows and arrows when they attacked SG-5 and the archaeological team in the forest?," Hammond asked.

"Unknown, Sir," Kovacek said. "About the only thing we do know for sure about them is that they value music very highly. Indeed, much of their own culture…what we've seen of it…seems to be built around it."

General Hammond smiled, turning to Remmy and Colonel Makepeace. "Yes, of that much we can be sure," he said. "Mr. Brown, Colonel, I want to congratulate you for opening the door of negotiation for us."

"Thank you, General," Remmy said. "But if I hadn't been scared shitless out there, I'd have never started singing, and who knows how things would have turned out."

"Well," General Hammond said, smiling again, "we're just fortunate that you were along on that mission. And Colonel, your initiative in following up on the opening thus presented was commendable."

"Thank you, Sir," Makepeace replied, smiling in return.

"Can either, or both, of you add anything more to the facts and speculation which have already been presented?," Hammond asked.

Remmy said, "General Hammond, one thing I noticed is that the Ewoks…"

"Ewoks?," Hammond interrupted.

Remmy laughed. "Yeah, that's what we've been calling them, since we don't know their own name for themselves and since they resemble the Ewoks from _Return of the Jedi_."

"Hmmm," General Hammond said. "Well, I suppose it's as good a name as any for now. Please go on."

"Yes, Sir," Remmy said. "Well, as I was saying, I noticed that the Ewoks are very quick learners. They picked up my dance moves almost immediately. And by the end of my first show, many of them were singing in harmony with us, even repeating the words, though they didn't know what the words meant, of course. And like the Major said, a large part of their culture does seem to be built around music and dance. After we performed for them, they performed for us. It was amazing."

"It seems to go deeper for them than mere entertainment, Sir," Colonel Makepeace said. "Music seems to hold some greater significance for them. But what that might be, I couldn't guess."

"Yeah," Remmy agreed, nodding vigorously. "That's what I felt too."

"Well, gentlemen," General Hammond said, "it appears we have a mystery on our hands. Major Kovacek, keep me informed of your progress toward deciphering their language. Mr. Brown, Colonel Makepeace, I want you to remain with the diplomats and do anything you can to facilitate progress."

"Yes, Sir," the three men said together.

"Dr. Jackson, I want you to put together another team of archaeologists. Finish searching that Goa'uld complex, and see if you can find any further evidence to support your theories about the native inhabitants."

"Yes, Sir," Jackson said.

General Hammond stood up. "All right then, gentlemen. We've all got work to do. Dismissed."


	8. Chapter 8

-1CHAPTER EIGHT

PLANET P3M-299, 15 NOVEMBER 1998

Rembrandt Brown was walking, with Dr. Daniel Jackson, through a native village on planet P3M-299. The village itself, located in the forest about five Klicks from the underground complex built here by the Goa'uld, consisted of rude huts built of wood and mud. It was teaming with the little, furry creatures which had become informally known as "Ewoks" since they had been encountered, so abruptly, two weeks before. As they walked down one of the village's muddy streets, several of the creatures waved at Remmy in a friendly manner, some of them imitating his dance moves. Remmy smiled and waved back.

"Well, _you've_ certainly made an impression on them," Daniel said.

"Hey, they're my biggest fans," Remmy said, grinning. "I wonder how many records I'd have sold here, back in the day, if the Ewoks had record players?"

Daniel laughed. Then he looked thoughtful. "If they had record players," he said. "That is something that bothers me. Why don't they?"

"Huh?," Remmy said, thoroughly confused. "You 're really worrying about why they don't have record players?"

Daniel smiled. "Well, not so much record players, per se. But I'm perplexed by the apparent lack of technology of any kind. If these creatures are the race which left the inscription at Heliopolis, as I believe to be the case, _some_ form of technology should be in evidence." He looked off to the side, where a female Ewok was stirring an iron pot, suspended over an open fire and filled with some sort of stew, with a large wooden spoon, and pointed. "But if they have it, where is it?"

"If only we could talk to them," Remmy said. "We could ask them."

Just then, they heard the voice of Colonel Makepeace calling to them from behind. "Dr. Jackson! Remmy!" They stopped and turned to see the Marine Colonel trotting up behind them.

"Colonel!," Remmy said. "How's it hanging?"

Makepeace grinned. "It's hanging," he said. "In fact, things couldn't be better! The linguists say there's been a breakthrough. They sent me to get Dr. Jackson. Remmy, you come along too."

"That's great!," Daniel said, a wide smile on his face. They followed Makepeace back to the hut Major Kovacek and a team of skilled linguists and code-breakers had been working with some of the Ewoks almost constantly since first contact had been established, trying to figure out a way to communicate with them. Arriving at the hut, they stepped inside. They were greeted by one of the Ewoks, who rose and spoke to them, in halting English.

"Greetings," the creature said. "To our world, welcome you we."

Remmy grinned. "Greetings to you, my friend," he said. "I have enjoyed getting to know your people." He bent down and offered his hand. "My name is Remmy," he said. "What is your name?"

The Ewok hesitated, then reached out and took Remmy's hand in its own clawed appendage. It looked into Remmy's eyes with its own deep, black eyes, and said, "Ha'arush called am I."

Major Kovacek was seated on the packed earth floor of the hut, and rising, dusted off the back of his trousers. Then he came to attention and saluted Makepeace.

"Sir, as you can see, their English leaves something to be desired, but it's intelligible," he said.

"Have we made any progress in learning to speak their language?," Daniel Jackson asked.

"Some, but they've picked up ours much more quickly," Kovacek said. "Actually, this is all rather sudden. They just came in here this morning, shortly after our arrival, and began speaking English to us, right out of the blue."

"I told you they were fast learners," Remmy said, nodding.

"Indeed, they are," Daniel said, a thoughtful look on his face. "Or did they have help?"

"Help?," Makepeace asked. "You mean, like some sort of technology?"

"Technology, yes," the Ewok suddenly broke in. "Technology have we. Some. More had the Old Ones. Come, with us sit and of this speak will we."

Together, they followed the Ewok farther into the large hut, and, finding an area which was relatively empty, they all sat down in a circle on the floor. As they did so, a female Ewok came with a tray bearing wooden cups with a native wine. They all took cups, thanking her. She made a noise that sounded, to Remmy, positively like a giggle, and then scurried away.

Remmy took a drink of his wine…he had developed quite a taste for it since his arrival here, it reminding him vaguely of the Boone's Farm Strawberry Wine his father used to keep in their refrigerator, and from which he used to snitch small drinks when he was a kid, all those years ago…and listened as Daniel Jackson began to speak with the Ewok.

"Ha'arush," Jackson said, "my name is Daniel. We are honored that you have allowed us to visit you here, on your world."

Ha'arush bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Sorry are we your people slew did we. Thought we the Evil Ones were you. Came you through the Ring of Water, like the Evil Ones," He looked at Remmy. "But the Singing One, heard did we. Knew we then, wrong were we."

"The Evil Ones did not sing?," Daniel asked.

"No," Ha'arush said. "Sing not they, only kill do they."

Daniel looked at Makepeace. "He must be speaking of the Goa'uld," he said. "The Goa'uld must have come through the Stargate."

Ha'arush hissed angrily, standing up. "Speak you not the name of the Evil Ones!"

"Our apologies," Kovacek said quickly. "We meant no offense."

Ha'arush calmed down, nodded, and returned to his seat. "Forgive you do we," he said. "Our customs know not do you."

"We thank you," Daniel said, nodding. "May I ask you about the Evil Ones? Did they come here recently?"

"No," Ha'arush said. "Long ago came they. Of us many kill did they. Much wealth and technology of ours steal did they, and what steal they did not, destroy did they. But, after much suffering, drive away them did we."

Daniel looked at Makepeace. "That explains why there is so little technology in evidence here," he said. The 'Evil Ones' took or destroyed it all."

"Not all," Ha'arush said. "Still some have we." He got up, and went to a small, wooden cabinet sitting in one corner of the hut. Opening the door, he lifted up a small, wooden box. He brought it out and then sat back down, resuming his place in the circle. Setting the box on the ground, he opened it, reached inside, and pulled out a small statuette, with the upper part being a small sphere surrounded by three rings." Daniel instantly recognized it.

"A Touchstone!," he exclaimed.

Ha'arush looked at him quizzically. "Seen before this have you?," he asked.

"Not exactly," Daniel said, barely able to contain the excitement in his voice. "We found a similar device on another world, a planet called Madrona." Then he noticed some writing on the base of the statuette. "Those glyphs!," he said. "They're the same as the ones we found inside the underground complex, and on the planet Heliopolis."

"Yes," Ha'arush said, nodding. "Skywalkers were the Old Ones. On worlds many tread did they. "

Remmy suddenly burst out laughing, despite himself. The others looked at him, question marks in their eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, finally containing himself. "I meant no offense," he said quickly to Ha'arush. "But first Ewoks, and now Skywalkers? When do R2D2 and CP3O show up?" Remmy saw Makepeace grinning. Obviously similar thoughts were going through his mind, too.

"Ewoks," Ha'arush said. "Of that speak you, heard have we. What meaning has it?"

Remmy felt his face heating up as he blushed. "Um, er," he said.

"The Ewoks are a people of our legends," Daniel said quickly. "A people for whom we have great respect. The legends portray them as very similar to your folk, Ha'arush, and we naturally began calling you by that name, since we did not know what you called yourselves. Indeed, we still don't."

"Ah," Ha'arush said, nodding. "Understand do I." He stood up, and gestured toward the other natives in the room. "The Phu'or L'ing are we."

"Furling," Remmy repeated.

What passed for a smile with his species came on Ha'arush's face. "Exactly, is it not, but close enough is it."

"Ha'arush," Daniel said, "from what I gathered on Heliopolis, your ancestors were highly advanced. How is it that your people were unable to defend yourselves against the Evil Ones, when they came?"

Ha'arush's face assumed a somber cast. "Peaceful were they," he said. "Wonders built the Old Ones, devices great made they. But weapons, no. Need for them not saw they. Gave freely of what had they. Why weapons make should they?" He sighed. "And so, when came the Evil Ones…" He growled softly and said no more.

"If you had no weapons, how did you drive them away?," Colonel Makepeace asked.

Ha'arush gestured toward the Touchstone. "This device by the Evil Ones left to us."

Daniel nodded in comprehension. "Of course!," he said. "The Touchstone allowed you to alter the atmosphere of your world," he said. "You created conditions that forced the Evil Ones to leave." His eyes opened wide. "But how did you survive?"

Ha'arush shook his head. "Many did not, died did they. Those who survived, lack did they the knowledge of the Old Ones."

"So you destroyed your own civilization to get rid of the Evil Ones," Major Kovacek said, awe in his voice. "And you were never able to rebuild."

Ha'arush nodded. "The people, some of them, survive did they. Their great grandchildren, many generations removed, are we. Civilization, survive not did it."

Remmy listened to this, and his heart went out to these people. He had seen what the Goa'uld had done on many worlds. He could well understand why the Furlings would sacrifice most of their people and their entire civilization to be rid of them. But to fall from such greatness to the primitive state in which these people now lived…it was hard for him to comprehend.

As for Daniel, his heart sank as he listened to Ha'arush describe the fall of a great people, not only because of the sadness of the thing itself, but also because he knew that they could expect little help from these people in Earth's own struggle against the Goa'uld. The technologically advanced, infinitely wise race they had hoped to find, had been reduced to a mere shadow…indeed, less than a shadow…of itself.

Colonel Makepeace, too, was crushed by the news. But he didn't show it. Instead, he said to Ha'arush, "We fight the Evil Ones. Knowing what they did to your people will make us fight them even harder. We will defeat them, this I promise you."

Ha'arush smiled again. "Believe you, do I," he said. "To you, listening been have we. Of you, much know we."

"You mean, you've known how to speak our language right along, and were just keeping quiet about it?," Remmy exclaimed.

"Understand you, yes, did I," Ha'arush said. He reached inside his rough cloth shirt, and brought out a gleaming red gem, set in what looked like pure gold, suspended from a leather thong. "One thing more left they, did the Old Ones. The Gem of Understanding, called it they. Understand not at first did I, but after your arrival, soon did I."

He stood up, and went to another place in the room. Lifting up a small rug on the floor, he revealed a small trap door, which he lifted. Reaching inside, he removed another small wooden box, similar to that which contained the Touchstone, but smaller and flatter. Bringing it over, he handed it to Remmy.

"Singing One," he said, "entrust this to you, do I. Open it, may you."

Remmy took the box, and setting it down on the ground, cautiously opened it. "It's another one of those gems," he said, looking at Daniel.

Daniel looked at Ha'arush. "You're giving us a gem, like you wear, which will help us to understand the speech of other races?," he asked, amazed.

"Give you, yes," Ha'arush said. "With it, understand speech not only, will you."

"Do you mean, it will help us to translate written languages as well?," Daniel asked.

"Yes, yes," Ha'arush replied. "And music, for the Singing One."

"Thank you, Ha'arush," Remmy said. "This is a great gift."

"Yes," Daniel said. "It will prove of great use in fighting the Evil Ones."

"Know this, do I," Ha'arush said. "Use it well."

.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

CHULAK, 18 NOVEMBER 1998

Sebe't, First Prime of Apophis, the Supreme System Lord of the Goa'uld, stood before the Chappa'ai on his home planet of Chulak, watching as Ril'tak, his chief lieutenant, dialed in the glyphs which would open the portal between Chulak and An'dilat, one of the worlds held by Heru'ur, the enemy of his master. Heru'ur had recently raided another world held by Apophis, his Jaffa despoiling the temple there. Apophis had demanded vengeance, and Sebe't, as his First Prime, intended to see that his god had that which he demanded.

A tall, muscular man of African appearance, with honey-colored skin, closely-cropped black hair and deep brown eyes, Sebe't proudly wore the serpent mark of Apophis, which had been carved into his forehead with the holy blade, the open wounds cauterized by having molten gold poured into them. For Sebe't believed with all his heart, as did all those Jaffa who were not Shol'va, that Apophis was a god, and it was his duty, his honor, and his privilege to serve him. _Praise be to Apophis,_ he thought to himself. _May I serve him well. _

As these thoughts flashed through Sebe't's mind, Ril'tak dialed the final glyph. But something went wrong. There was a flash of static electricity from the Chappa'ai, and a thin wisp of smoke rose from the pedestal where the glyphs were dialed to call up the wormhole.

"What..." Sebe't started to say.

But then, amazingly, the event horizon of what could only be a wormhole suddenly appeared...not within the ring of the Chappa'ai itself, but in the air, some thirty cubits above it. Sebe't looked upon it with amazement. Unlike the wormholes with which he was familiar, this one was much larger and glowed a strangely reddish color.

Then IT appeared.

About the size of a Tel'tak cargo vessel, it was completely black, and shaped vaguely like one of the flat-bodied creatures which swam in Chulak's seas. It immediately opened fire with some sort of high-energy particle beam, which lanced down and sliced open the pedestal on which the Chappa-ai stood, killing Ril'tak immediately and knocking over the Chappa-ai itself like it was a child's toy.

The Jaffa immediately opened fire on it with their staff weapons, and the strange vessel shuddered as it was hit by scores of bolts in less than a second. The vessel fired again, and a score of Sebe't's Jaffa were instantly killed as the beam sliced through them. Then a nearby battery of staff-cannon opened fire, and suddenly the hostile vessel careened out of control, slamming down into a nearby copse of trees.

"Come with me!" Sebe't ordered, rushing off toward the crash site. Over a hundred Jaffa followed him.

As the Jaffa approached the crashed vessel, Sebe't could see a hatch swing open and a humanoid figure, clad in a black uniform, step out. The creature...for so Sebe't thought of it, so strange was its appearance...raised what was obviously a weapon and pointed it at one of the oncoming Jaffa. It fired, and a smaller version of the energy beam weapon which had been fired from its ship struck down the Jaffa, sending him sprawling. Sebe't raised his Zat'nik'tel and fired, stunning the creature. The creature collapsed, falling on its face on the ground.

The Jaffa gathered around the stricken alien vessel and its pilot. Sebe't knelt down and turned the creature over. The creature, he saw, resembled the Jaffa more than he would care to admit, but with many differences...almost like they had evolved from a common ancestor, far back in the distant past. Its teeth were sharp and pointed, and its skin was distorted and ridged with a dark pigment. It was completely bald, with not even a hint of hair on its head or on its face. Suddenly, the creature's eyes flickered open. Sebe't spoke to it.

"Who are you, who dares to attack the warriors of the god, Apophis?" he demanded.

"And who are you, human, who dares to speak so to your master?" the creature replied.

"Master?" Sebe't replied, scowling. He stood up and kicked the creature savagely in its side, eliciting a howl of pain from it. "Now, answer. Who are you?"

The creature sat up and spat on the ground. Then he looked up at Sebe't. "I am Subcommander Kormok of the 19th Legion of the Kromagg Dynasty."

"Kromagg Dynasty?" Sebe't demanded. "What is that?"

Kormok laughed. "Your doom," he said. "And that of all humans."

Now Sebe't laughed in turn. "I will tell you a secret, Kromagg," he said. "I am not human. I am Jaffa, servant to the great god, and I fear no doom." He kicked the alien again, harder, and smiled as the creature clutched its side in agony. "And I will tell you something else. After I take you to my god, you will beg for death. For it is to your own doom that you go now." He looked at several nearby Jaffa.

"Seize him!" he ordered, and smiled as his order was instantly obeyed. _My Lord Apophis will be pleased,_ he thought to himself as he watched the Jaffa hustle the alien away. Then his smiled faded. _Hopefully pleased enough to forgive our failure to carry out the attack on Heru'ur. _He knew that it would be several days, at least, before the Chappa'ai was once again restored to its pedestal and ready for use. _Surely My Lord will understand. Because if he does not, it will be I who begs for death. _With that unsettling thought, he followed his Jaffa, with their prisoner, back toward the city.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

CHULAK, 19 NOVEMBER 1998

Subcommander Kormok sat alone in a filthy cell, somewhere in the capital city of Chulak, also, confusingly, known as Chulak. Brought here by the humans who had shot down his Stingray-class Manta Ship the previous afternoon, he had languished here since then. Kormok scowled. Despite the fact that they called themselves Jaffa, they appeared to Kormok like any other human slime he had ever seen. The dishonor of having been captured by them was almost too much to bear.

The sense of shame he felt was only increased because, despite the gloatings of their leader, the fool who called himself Sebe't, he had not been taken immediately into the presence of their "god" for interrogation. This "Apophis" who these fools worshiped apparently considered himself too busy to be bothered with Kormok when he first arrived. The indignity of it all!

Worse yet, like the barbarians they were, they had not fed him or given him water since his arrival here. Indeed, there had been no further contact with anyone since the jailer closed the heavy wooden door and slid the heavy iron bolt which secured it into place.

But he had not spent all of his time here since his arrival feeling sorry for himself. He had been formulating a plan of escape, and if SOMEONE would just come to his door, he intended to put it into action. He smiled slightly as he thought of it. The humans here had never encountered a Kromagg, to judge by their reactions to him upon his arrival. He would show them the folly of underestimating him.

As these thoughts were going through his mind, he heard the rattling of chains, then a scraping sound as the iron bolt was pulled back to unlock the door. Kormok immediately moved to a shadowy corner to one side of the door, and waited as it opened.

The jailor, a fat Jaffa named Gree'tak, accompanied by two armed guards, came in. Gree'tak looked around the cell, then saw Kormok crouched in the corner.

"There you are," he said. "The great god Apophis wishes to see you now." Then his eyes widened as he looked closer at the captive.

"Sebe't!," he exclaimed. "How came you here? Where is the prisoner!"

"Sebe't" stood up and stepped out into the light steaming in through the open door. His voice boomed with rage. "Fool of a jailor, who does not even know what goes on underneath his own fat, bulbous nose! Get me out of here at once!"

"Yes, Sebe't! It shall be as you demand!," Gree'tak said, bowing fearfully. "But where is the prisoner?"

"Escaped!," "Sebe't" hissed.

"But...how?" Gree'tak asked, scratching his head with confusion. "Where would he have gone? My men and I have been on guard at the entry into the prison all night!"

"Sebe't" growled, "How should I know? Search for him at once!"

"It shall be done!," Gree'tak exclaimed. Turning to the guards, he said, "Go! Inform Milt'ost! Begin the search at once!" The two armed Jaffa quickly rushed from the room. Soon the shouts of other Jaffa told them that the search had begun. Gree'tak turned back to "Sebe't" with a look of satisfaction on his face. His eyes suddenly widened with shock as Kormok's fist found his trachea, crushing it. Gree'tak collapsed to his knees, clutching at his throat as he gasped for breath. As he began to turn blue, Kormok reached down and took the knife and keys from the jailor's belt. He stepped behind Gree'tak and grabbed him by his hair. Gree'tak uttered a strangled cry as Kormok inserted the tip of the knife into his eye socket, neatly removing the eyeball with a quick motion.

"You should have fed me, human slime," Kormok said as he popped the eyeball into his mouth, chewing it with a wet, crunching sound. Gree'tak, finally overcome by suffocation, silently collapsed to the floor. "Pity," Kormok said. "I like my eyeballs fresh." He stooped down, cut out the remaining eye, and popped it into his mouth. "But when hunger calls, compromises must be made."

He wiped the knife blade on Gree'tak's uniform, and took the sheath for it off of the dead jailor's belt, placing it onto his own instead. He stepped out of the cell, and closed the door behind him. Sliding the iron bolt into place, he reset the chain and lock which had held it shut, and then, using Gree'tak's key, he locked it. He could see the other Jaffa still searching, fruitlessly, for the "escapee." He nodded to them as they bowed their heads in respect for "Sebe't" as he walked by. He looked at one of them. "Your weapon! Give it to me!" he demanded. The Jaffa quickly handed over the staff-like weapon, and "Sebe't" nodded in thanks before moving on.

He hurried toward the main entrance to...and the only exit from...the prison. As he approached the door, he was confronted by the sight of the real Sebe't, who was aggressively demanding from the single guard left at the door to know what had occasioned the search he saw going on there and where Gree'tak was. The guard saw him approach, and his eyes widened at the shock of seeing not one, but TWO Sebe'ts before him. "First Prime! Look!" He pointed toward the new arrival, and Sebe't turned to look. His eyes widened even more as he was confronted by...himself...standing there, pointing a staff weapon at him.

Kormok laughed. "Now you die, human!," he said, and tried to fire the weapon. But to his chagrin, he found he did not understand the trigger mechanism. Sebet quickly drew his Zat'nik'tel and fired, stunning the Kromagg officer. Kormok grunted as he dropped the staff weapon and collapsed to the floor, unconscious. As Sebe't and the guard watched in horror and amazement, the unconscious Kormok resumed his own form as the illusion of "Sebe't" was destroyed.

Several other Jaffa, attracted by the sound of weapons fire, came running up to the group standing before the prison entrance.

"Get this...thing...back to its cell," Sebe't ordered. "And if you open the door and see me...or anyone else other than the prisoner, for that matter...in there, don't believe your eyes. He has the ability to change his appearance somehow."

The Jaffa acknowledged his orders, and took the prisoner away. "What is he, lord?," the completely flabbergasted guard said to Sebe't as he watched them go.

"A very dangerous creature," Sebe't said. "A very dangerous creature, indeed."


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

CHULAK, 19 NOVEMBER 1998, LATER THAT DAY...

Apophis, Supreme System Lord of the Goa'uld, sat upon his golden throne, surrounded and protected by his elite Serpent Guards, awaiting the arrival of the intriguing prisoner captured the day before by his First Prime, Sebe't. Sebe't had sent word from the prison, informing him of the escape attempt made by the prisoner, in which the creature exhibited some very peculiar powers. He scowled. _I will know the source of those powers_, Apophis thought to himself. _And what other unknown powers this creature may possess. _

Shortly afterward, the great doors of his immense and opulent audience chamber opened, and Sebe't came in, followed by a large and wary group of Jaffa escorting the prisoner, who was heavily bound in chains to prevent any attempt at escape. Apophis watched as the group traversed the distance between the doors and the dais on which sat his throne, then came to a halt before him.

"Kneel before your god, Prisoner!" Sebe't ordered. Two of the Jaffa grabbed the prisoner and roughly forced him to his knees.

The prisoner looked up, and Apophis could now see his face...vaguely human-like in appearance, but with ridged, mottled skin and a mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth. The creature, he could see, had no hair at all, and wore a black uniform of some kind. The prisoner, in turn, looked up at Apophis, and laughed.

"You say this is your god?" he managed, between guffaws. "He is nothing more than human slime, like yourselves!"

Apophis's eyes glowed reddish gold with rage at this insult. He stood up. "Silence!" he growled, and held up his left hand, on which he wore the Kara Kesh, a gold, forearm-length glove with a red gem in the center of the palm. A fiery, reddish gold beam lanced out of that gem, striking the insolent creature in the forehead. The creature howled in agony.

"Now," Apophis said, "you will pay for your insolence. And then I will know what you know." Apophis, even as he tortured the creature, used the beam to establish a neural interface with the creature's mind. He smiled as he began to assimilate the information there.

Subcommander Kormok had never experienced such agony in his life. It felt like every nerve ending in his body was being bathed in corrosive acid. Yet somehow he knew that, while excruciatingly painful, this particular torture would not be fatal, and could be prolonged almost indefinitely. Fear welled up within him.

Then he felt the human...Kromaggs did not believe in such figments of superstitious nonsense as "gods"...begin to enter his mind. He felt it probing him, stealing his secrets from him. He summoned up all his strength and tried to block the alien intrusion out.

Apophis staggered back, temporarily releasing the creature from the torture beam, as he felt his mind probe forcibly repelled by the creature's mind. _What sort of creature are you, who can expel the mind probe of the Kara Kesh_, he thought to himself. He looked into the creature's eyes, and he saw that it was smiling at him. Then he felt the creature enter HIS mind.

Kormok smiled at the human as he projected images of the power of the Kromagg Dynasty into its mind. Sweeping vistas of desolated, depopulated worlds, where the Kromaggs had exterminated the human vermin they found there. Images of humans...very much like Apophis himself...in chains, serving as slave labor on Kromagg prison worlds. _This will be your fate, Human,_ he whispered into the other's mind.

Then Apophis reactivated the torture device, and the creature howled again. "No, Kromagg," he said, recovering himself. "It will not."

Apophis saw the confused expression on the face of his First Prime, Sebe't, who stood nearby. He laughed. "The creature has the ability to project his thoughts into the minds of others. He attempted to take control of my mind. He failed."

"Apophis is god!" Sebe't exclaimed. "Truly, you are all-powerful, my lord!"

Apophis smiled. He turned up the intensity of the torture beam and the creature twitched and spasmed with agony so intense it almost couldn't breathe. It gasped for breath, then fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Shall we take this creature for execution now, lord?" Sebe't asked.

Apophis had learned enough, during his own mind probe and during the creature's attempt to seize control of his own mind, to realize that this creature was possessed of some very special gifts. He smiled. No, he had other plans for this creature.

"Have him prepared. I will take him for my host this very day."

Sebe't bowed. "Praise be to Apophis! Blessed be his name! It shall be done, lord!" He barked some quick orders to the other Jaffa, and then accompanied them as they took the creature away to be prepared for the joining. Apophis watched them go.

_Yes,_ he thought to himself. _You will make an excellent host. _He smiled._ And then I will know everything you know, whether you will it nor not._


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE  
><strong>

STARGATE COMMAND, 21 NOVEMBER 1998

Colonel Jack O'Neill was in the Operations Room of the SGC, consulting with General Hammond about an upcoming mission, when gate activation alarm went off. As security personnel rushed into the Gate Room, Master Sergeant Walter Harriman, who was, as usual, seated in front of the computers which controlled the operation of the Stargate, looked up from his display at General Hammond.

"I'm getting an I.D.C.[1], Sir," he said. "It's Bra'tac."

"Open the Iris!" Hammond ordered.

Harriman deftly pressed a button on his console, and the twenty titanium blades which formed the barrier which protected the SGC from unauthorized entry through the Stargate swung upwards, opening the aperture of the gate and revealing the blue event horizon of the wormhole. O'Neill smiled slightly as he saw it. The Iris always reminded him of the leaf shutter in an old camera he used to have.

Then Bra'tac stepped through the gate, and stood upon the platform. O'Neill watched as he stepped down the ramp and onto the floor of the Gate Room, coming to a halt in front of the security personnel.

"Well, Colonel," Hammond said. "Let's not keep the man waiting."

"Yes, Sir!," O'Neill replied, following the general out of the Operations Room and into the Gate Room.

Bra'tac's face lit up as they entered. "O'Neill!," he exclaimed.* "And Hammond of Texas!"

"It's good to see you again, Master Bra'tac," Hammond said, stepping forward and offering his hand in greeting. Bra'tac took the hand and shook it.

"Welcome to the S.G.C.," O'Neill said, smiling.

"I take it that this is not a social visit," Hammond said.

Bra'tac's face clouded. "It is not," he said.

"All right, then," Hammond said. "Let's retire to the briefing room and discuss the situation, whatever it is."He looked at O'Neill. "Inform Teal'c and the rest of SG-1 to join us."

"Yes, Sir," O'Neill said, moving off to do as commanded.

A few minutes later, O'Neill, Hammond, and the others gathered with Bra'tac in the privacy of the Briefing Room, listening as Bra'tac described some shocking events which had recently taken place on Chulak.

"As the final symbol was dialed," Bra'tac said, "a strange vortex appeared in the air above the Chappa'ai, while the Chappa'ai itself experienced a malfunction."

"Hmmm," O'Neill said. "THAT sounds familiar."

"Indeed it does, Colonel," General Hammond agreed, nodding.

Bra'tac looked mystified. "You have seen such a vortex before?"

"Yes," Hammond replied. "It happened in our own Gateroom, several months ago." He stood up and walked over to a phone, mounted on one wall of the room. He pressed a button before speaking. "Quinn Mallory, Professor Arturo, please come to the Briefing Room on Level 27. I repeat, Quinn Mallory, Professor Arturo, please come immediately to the Briefing Room on Level 27. Thank you." He hung up the phone and returned to his seat. "Before we continue, Master Bra'tac," he said after sitting down, "I think the two gentlemen I've summoned might be helpful."

"Of course," Bra'tac said. "I assume they have something to do with the earlier incident of which you spoke?"

"They do," Hammond said, nodding again.

A few minutes later, they were joined by Mallory and Arturo, both clad in the white lab coats they customarily wore when working here at the S.G.C.

"You wished to see us, General?" Arturo asked.

"Yes, Professor," Hammond said. "Please sit down, both of you. I think you'll find this most interesting." He turned back to Bra'tac. "Master Bra'tac, can you please start over again, from the beginning?" Bra'tac did so.

"That does sound like what happened to us," Quinn Mallory said after Bra'tac described the appearance of the vortex, in the air above the Stargate on Chulak. He looked at Bra'tac. "Did anyone come through the vortex?"

"Yes," Bra'tac said. "A strange, black vessel, of a sort never before seen, soon appeared. It attacked the Jaffa who were gathered near the Chappa'ai, firing an energy weapon of great power and killing many of them, before it was shot down by the defensive Staff Cannon batteries nearby." He paused before continuing. "The pilot of the craft was captured alive. It was a…strange…creature. It was quite similar to a human, but had a bizarrely distorted face and sharp, pointed teeth."

Mallory and Arturo looked at each other, alarm on their faces. Mallory looked quickly at General Hammond, then back at Bra'tac.

"The creature you're describing is called a Kromagg," he said.

"You've encountered them before?" Bra'tac asked, amazed.

"Mr. Mallory and Professor Arturo have," General Hammond said. "The vortex is a portal, connecting two universes in much the same way that the Stargates connect two planets within our own galaxy. Mallory, Arturo, and two other companions arrived here through such a vortex, and on their travels, they encountered these Kromaggs."

"And it was not a pleasant experience, I can tell you," Professor Arturo declared.

"But how did the vortex open on Chulak?" Mallory mused to himself, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, my boy," Arturo said, "I can think of only two possibilities. Either the Kromaggs have some sort of interstellar travel capability, and the Kromagg vessel was sent there intentionally as a scouting party, or the Kromagg vessel suffered the same sort of accident which attracted us here, all those months ago, and was drawn to Chulak because the Kromagg pilot activated his sliding device at the same instant the Stargate on Chulak was activated." He frowned. "But which it might be, I have no idea. I rather think the latter is the case rather than the former, but I could be wrong."

"I agree," Mallory said.

"There is more," Bra'tac said. "Apophis has taken the…Kromagg…for a host. Apparently the Kromagg possesses some unique abilities which Apophis has now claimed for his own."

"Those would be the psychic abilities you told us about," Daniel Jackson said. "The ability of project a telepathic illusion into the minds of others, to communicate telepathically, and to forcibly take information from the minds of others by telepathic means."

Quinn nodded. "Yes, that's right," he said. "I'm not aware of any other special abilities the Kromaggs have."[2]

"As if Apophis wasn't enough of a bastard before," O'Neill said, shaking his head with dismay. "Now he can make us believe he's not him?" He sat back in his chair and began rubbing his temples. "My head hurts."

"And there's one more thing we haven't considered," Samantha Carter said suddenly, her eyes widening. "This means that Apophis has the sliding technology."

"Sliding technology?" Bra'tac asked.

"That's what the technology which creates the vortexes connecting one universe with another is called," Quinn said. He looked at Captain Carter. "And it means that Apophis not only has the sliding technology, but that he has a better version of it than our own. The Kromaggs don't slide randomly. They can direct their slides to specific alternate universes."

"It just keeps getting better and better," O'Neill groaned.

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

"That's all the more reason why we need to start seeing progress on your work, gentlemen," General Hammond said to Quinn and Arturo.

"We shall redouble our efforts!" Arturo declared. Quinn merely nodded, a haunted look on his face.

"I almost hate to wish for this, bearing in mind what you've told us about the Kromaggs," General Hammond said, "but perhaps the best we can hope for is that the arrival of the Kromagg vessel on Chulak was a prelude to invasion, and the Goa'uld are about to get into a war with an enemy who might be as strong as they are."

"One problem with that scenario, General," O'Neill said. "Whoever wins that war, we're probably fucked."

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "Our situation does not appear promising, in either case."

"Well," General Hammond said, rising from his seat, "there's nothing we can immediately do about the situation in any case." He nodded to Bra'tac. "Thank you for bringing us this information, Master Bra'tac. We are in your debt."

"You are welcome, Hammond of Texas," Bra'tac said, smiling.

Hammond looked around at the others in the room. "Dismissed."

[1] I.D.C….Iris Deactivation Code.

[2] They do have other psychic abilities, such as the ability to heal themselves and others, but Quinn is not aware of them as he has not yet encountered them.


End file.
